(March 12, 2011) At least 2,300 Nissan and Infiniti brand vehicles awaiting shipment to U.S. and Japan showrooms were damaged in the earthquake and resulting tsunami, Automotive News reported today.

The cars — including nearly 1,300 Infiniti M, EX and FX models bound for North America — were parked at two coastal loading points when the giant waves swept through.

Pictures of the carnage at one of the points, the Port of Hitachi in Ibaraki prefecture, show hundreds of brand new Nissan and Nissan vehicles piled on top of one another and scattered like toy cars. Television footage later showed many of the Infiniti models engulfed in fire.

Nissan and Infiniti vehicles
destroyed at Port of Hitachi
STR/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom

About 1,300 cars — all to be exported to the United States — were damaged at the Port of Hitachi. Most were Infiniti nameplates such as the M sedan and EX and FX crossovers. But the damaged cars also included a small number of 370Z sports cars, the company said.

Those cars are made at Nissan's Infiniti assembly plant in nearby Tochigi prefecture.

A service center in neighboring Miyagi prefecture, where cars were being assembled for shipment to domestic dealers, was likewise devastated by the tsunami. About 1,000 vehicles were damaged at that location.

Nissan confirmed that many of the vehicles at the Port of Hitachi had been consumed by fire. It couldn't give an exact breakdown or identify the cause of the fire.