Chrysler Group LLC became the latest automaker affected by the Japan earthquake and its aftermath, as it said it would cancel overtime work at some of its North American assembly plants due to parts shortages.

Chrysler, which is managed by Italy' Fiat SpA , said it cut overtime at plants in Toluca, Mexico, and Brampton, Ontario, in what it called the first impact of the Japan crisis.

The flow of auto parts from Japan has been disrupted since a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11.

We have not experienced any disruptions to regularly scheduled production as a result of the issues in Japan. We are, however, taking some planned overtime out of our production schedule in an effort to conserve supplier parts that are potentially impacted by the disaster, Chrysler spokeswoman Katie Hepler said in a statement.

The Brampton plant, near Toronto, builds the Chrysler 300, and Dodge Charger and Challenger, while the Toluca plant makes the Dodge Journey and the Fiat 500, which recently went on sale in the U.S. market. The affected parts are not used in the 500.

Chrysler previously said it would idle its minivan assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, this week because of part shortages unrelated to the Japan crisis. The facility also builds minivans for Volkswagen AG .

The parts shortages due to the Japan crisis have affected many automakers, with Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> saying on Tuesday that one or more of its North American plants would likely have production disruptions.

The Japanese automaker said the first production cuts would likely happen later this month. It had previously curtailed overtime work at its plants.

Last week, Ford Motor Co said it would idle its Kentucky pickup truck plant, while Nissan Motor Co Ltd <7201.T> adjusted its production schedule at plants in the United States and Mexico by shifting nonproduction days planned for later in the second and third quarters to April.

Ford had previously said it would idle its assembly plant in Genk, Belgium, to conserve parts.

General Motors Co had previously idled production at its pickup truck plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, due to the parts shortage.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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