Damages caused by Hurricane Sandy could scrap 15,000 new vehicles

15,000 new vehicles might not live their full course of life thanks to the damage brought by hurricane Sandy, which has swept across the state of New York.

Nissan estimates more than 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti branded cars and light commercial vehicles to be scrapped, due to damages incurred by the natural disaster. 56 Nissan dealers were shut down with only five resuming operations again, whereas all New York Infiniti showrooms except one has resumed operations.

Fisker Automotive, an American luxury plug-in hybrid automaker, lost 338 of its Karma sedans at the port of Newark. According to a company spokesperson, the cost of replacing the 338 saloons could go up to $34.8 million (S$42.6 million).

Some 3,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles from Newark port will likely be scrapped with another 825 vehicles in dealerships damaged by the storm and can't be sold.

Honda and its luxury variant Acura expects to scrap about 3,440 vehicles with an additional 500 'Made in US' vehicles meant for export damaged.

The Korean manufactures of Hyundai and Kia had 'minor' damages to their stocks compared to others. Hyundai lost 400 vehicles while Kia lost around 200 that are 'damaged beyond repair'. General Motors and Ford are still unsure of damage figures.

Sources claim the total vehicles affected by Sandy is roughly one-third of the damage done by Hurricane Katrina at about 600,000 used and new vehicles. Replacement demand is only likely to begin in December. Sandy, the biggest Atlantic storm in U.S. history, caused the deaths of 100 people and devastated the states of New Jersey, New York and the surrounding region with winds as fast as 160km/h and flooding.