The total value of U.S.-made auto parts purchased by 11 Japanese automakers in the first half of the 1997 business year rose 5.2 percent from the same period last year to $11.46 billion, an industry association said Friday.
Procurement by Japanese auto plants in the U.S. totaled $9.59 billion, up 4.2 percent from the same period last year, while imports of U.S.-made parts rose 10.8 percent to $1.87 billion, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said. Japan's procurement of U.S. parts, which was the biggest issue in bilateral auto talks concluded in 1995, has been increasing steadily since then, despite the dollar's strength against the yen,
Japanese automakers have increased their production capacity in the U.S. since the talks ended, and that has largely contributed to the figure, according to JAMA. The total procurement of U.S.-made auto parts by Japanese automakers in the 1990 business year was $9.07 billion, but it increased to $22.74 billion in 1996.
Japan's largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corp. purchased a total $3.75 billion worth of auto parts from the U.S. in the first half of the current business year, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier. Nissan Motor Co.'s procurement of U.S.-made auto parts also rose 5 percent to $2.22 billion from the previous year, the automaker said.
JAMA also announced that Japanese automakers bought $2.76 billion worth of European-made auto parts during the first half of the 1997 business year, marking a 5.7 percent increase from a year ago. Auto parts purchased by Japanese plants in Europe rose 5.5 percent to $2.38 billion, while Japan's imports of auto parts from Europe rose 6.9 percent to $385.5 million.