Japan tops U.S. in car stakes

Press, 29 December 1980, Page 21

Japan tops U.S. in car stakes

; NZPA Tokyo ! . - / -. f Jajan has overtaken the , United States as the world s ' bigjest Car producer and ex- ’ petfs to export a record six milion vehicles this year, ’ ths Japan Automobile Manu- ’ fjeturers’ Association has / The big increase in , exports is certain to intensify pressure from the troubled American and West European car makers for positive action to cut the number of cars and trucks rolling out of Japan. The association said that Japan produced 10.1 million vehicles in the first 11 months of this year compared with 7.4 million by the United States. American car makers produced 11.48 million vehicles last year but since then several major companies have run into financial troubles over a recession-caused sales slump and many car workers have been laid off. At the same time, Japanese exports have surged ahead with 1.9 million vehicles going to the United States alone up to October. The association said that Japan’s total vehicle exports had already overtaken the 4.5 million for the whole of last year and the final tally for 1980 looked like reaching 6 million and possibly more. Meanwhile, Toyo Kogyo, Japan’s third largest car manufacturer is reported to

> be negotiating with the Ford Motor Co., to produce « 150,000 to 200,000 Ford subs compact cars annually at a - new assembly plant in westt em Japan. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun ’ economic daily said that ; Toyo Kogyo, the maker of Mazda cars, would supply i Ford with three-cylinder, . 1000 and 1200 cc class ve- » hides starting in 1983 as t part of Ford’s “world car r strategy” to compete with > the “S-car” to be marketed 5 by General Motors in late 1982. t Ford owns 25 per cent of j the stock in the Japanese 1 company. The report said that the , minicars would be produced at Toyo Kogyo’s hew plant in Hofu, to be completed in ’ late 1982. 5 The cars will be sold " under the Ford brand name. ' A Toyo Kogyo spokesman 5 refused to deny or confirm 5 the report. " “Toyo Kogyo and Ford are talking about possibly ■ widening their commercial 3 transactions in the future,’’ , he said. 1 “At this time, however, we have not reached any t concrete agreement with 5 Ford, so we haVe nothing 8 factual to report.” f The spokesman said that 1 he had no information about ? Nihon Keizai’s report that Ford’s chairman, Philip Caldi, well, would come to Japan r in February to complete the j agreement.