When manufacturers run low on parts

[Vyse]

Wondering if any guys on here work on the assembly line for any car maker?

I was taking apart the area which surrounds the gear stick on my car to fit a short shifter. I noticed that the shifting mechanism is not the correct one and is from a different spec of car although its the same model range. It seems to work ok, not sure if there is actually a physical difference between my shifter and one that is supposed to be on my car.

Is this something manufacturers do when running low on parts, especially parts that are hidden. Do they just fit something that would do the job?

[DrDeAtH]

It may have been a new level part that superseded the older one. It could have been that the correct one was out of stock, but this one was approved for fitting.

[V8LM]

Your Civic is a ringer. Run!

[GroundEffect]

Stopping the assembly line in a major OEM costs about $1M per day. I'd sooner rather cut off my own pinky toe than stop any one of the 35+ that my employer has globally so you need to do what is reasonable to keep it going.

Sometimes that means utilising another part (which might be more expensive but at least available) or using an entirely different part that will perform the function correctly. More often than not it would mean taking the same part that is localised in another part of the world and shipping it over to cover.

Of course it is known WELL in advance if parts are going to be low on stock so you can create a plan to control it.