Japanese Auto Lobby Wants Yen Intervention
The strong yen is putting a major crimp on auto maker profits, and now, Japan’s auto lobby is asking the government to do something about it.
Akio Toyoda, head of both Toyota and the Japanese Auto Manufacturers Association (the lobby group in question), released a statement on behalf of JAMA members, stating
“The current foreign exchange level, which is far from the actual ability of the Japanese economy, goes much beyond the limits of what companies can do through efforts to cut costs. Japan’s manufacturing is facing a great crisis again, and if things remain this way it could have a further impact on employment,”
TTAC readers know that the current manufacturing climate in Japan is defined by a word letter word/acronym: GTFO. Nissan and Honda are looking to move their export production out of Japan, preferably yesterday. Toyota has committed to building 3 million vehicles in Japan annually, but that hasn’t stopped them from moving production of the Lexus RX and Toyota Yaris to other locales. Even Subaru is able to assemble vehicles at their Indiana plant, while Mazda, which designs their vehicles to be profitable at unfavorable exchange rates, is setting up shop in Mexico.
As if kuruma banare wasn’t bad enough.
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Similar problem to what the Australian car industry is facing. The High Australian Dollar is creasting havoc.
"Mazda, which designs their vehicles to be profitable at unfavorable exchange rates,..." Is this a euphemism for taking cost-cutting shortcuts everywhere imaginable?
Okay. Well... to Hell with the Japanese Auto Lobby.
Conversely, the non-German caused weak Euro is benefiting the strong German economy.