Japanese auto manufacturers will stick to their plans to globalize operations in a move to avoid possible friction with the nation's trade partners, industry leaders said Thursday.
The remark was made during a meeting between Mitsuo Horiuchi, minister for international trade and industry, and representatives from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, according to a MITI official. Horiuchi called on industry leaders to make efforts to expand opportunities for foreign auto parts suppliers in line with the 1995 U.S.-Japan auto agreement, the official said.
JAMA Vice Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, who is also president of Toyota Motor Corp., pledged efforts to avoid possible friction, citing the localization of production bases as an "important means" to do so. He was quoted as telling the minister the short-term currency crisis will not affect the stance of Japanese automakers.