SamIAM™
05-26-2005, 10:55 AM
Honda CEO in Japan Says Company Aims to Keep Production Levels High in U.S. to Help Economy
TOKYO (AP) -- The head of Japan's Honda Motor Co. said Thursday his company aims to keep production levels high in the United States and purchase more parts in the U.S. to help support the U.S. economy and its floundering auto industry.
Honda President and Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said such measures were preferable to raising prices on Japanese cars.
Honda currently produces about 80 percent of its vehicles for the American market in the U.S. and buys as much as 98 percent of auto parts needed for its U.S.-market cars from local suppliers, Fukui said.
Japanese officials have been considering ways to help the U.S. auto industry as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. watch their U.S. market share become sharply eroded by Asian rivals, including Honda and Toyota Motor Corp.
The fears are that the success of Japanese automakers could set off a protectionist backlash in America, a major overseas market.
In an apparent effort to stave off anti-Japanese sentiments, Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda said last month he was considering raising prices on Toyota cars in the United States, as well as sharing technological research to help troubled American automakers.
But Fukui said, "it's hard for us to understand" that suggestion. He made the comments at a news conference for the launch of Honda's new Step Wagon minivan.
Detroit-based General Motors Corp., the world's top automaker, posted a $1.1 billion (loss for the first fiscal quarter ended March 31, and its debt was downgraded to "junk" status last week. Ford Motor Co., based in Dearborn, Mich., also has fared poorly.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050526/honda_us.html?.v=2
TOKYO (AP) -- The head of Japan's Honda Motor Co. said Thursday his company aims to keep production levels high in the United States and purchase more parts in the U.S. to help support the U.S. economy and its floundering auto industry.
Honda President and Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said such measures were preferable to raising prices on Japanese cars.
Honda currently produces about 80 percent of its vehicles for the American market in the U.S. and buys as much as 98 percent of auto parts needed for its U.S.-market cars from local suppliers, Fukui said.
Japanese officials have been considering ways to help the U.S. auto industry as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. watch their U.S. market share become sharply eroded by Asian rivals, including Honda and Toyota Motor Corp.
The fears are that the success of Japanese automakers could set off a protectionist backlash in America, a major overseas market.
In an apparent effort to stave off anti-Japanese sentiments, Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda said last month he was considering raising prices on Toyota cars in the United States, as well as sharing technological research to help troubled American automakers.
But Fukui said, "it's hard for us to understand" that suggestion. He made the comments at a news conference for the launch of Honda's new Step Wagon minivan.
Detroit-based General Motors Corp., the world's top automaker, posted a $1.1 billion (loss for the first fiscal quarter ended March 31, and its debt was downgraded to "junk" status last week. Ford Motor Co., based in Dearborn, Mich., also has fared poorly.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050526/honda_us.html?.v=2