Armed rebels impede production at Mexican Nissan plant

An armed rebel group blew up a natural gas pipeline on Tuesday near Nissan's factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan had to suspend production at the plant until today, when the automaker switched the natural gas operations to liquid petroleum.

Automotive News reports that a natural gas shortage as a result of the explosions also hampered production at a Honda plant in El Salto, near Guadalajara. Honda produces Accords at the plant for Mexican and Central American consumers.

The affected Nissan plant produces a number of cars for North America, including the Sentra and Versa, as well as the Plantina, Tiida, and Renault Clio for Mexican, Central and South American markets.

According to Reuters, the group claiming responsibility for the attacks is the leftist Popular Revolution Army, which carried out four separate attacks on pipelines carrying natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), crude oil and gasoline. Nissan wasn't the target for the attacks; rather, Pemex, the state-owned petroleum monopoly, was targeted.