A mission from General Motors Corp. of the United States met Monday with some 100 officials from auto parts makers in the city of Hiroshima, home of Mazda Motor Corp., an affiliate of GM's rival Ford Motor Co., to discuss possible procurements.
Woody Williams, executive director in charge of worldwide purchasing at General Motors Asia Pacific, told the session that the world's largest automaker is ready to buy parts from any supplier as long as prices are competitive.
Parts makers in Hiroshima have long been supplying products exclusively to Mazda. But as the Japanese automaker plans to shift production of some models to Europe, they are looking to supply other automakers as well.
Last month, Mazda said it would farm out some production for its Demio sedan and another model to a Ford plant in Europe in 2003 and close one of its main domestic factories.
The move is aimed at easing Mazda's exposure to fluctuations in the euro.
Toyota eyes Jamaica
NAGOYA (Kyodo) Toyota Tsusho Corp., a trading firm affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., said Monday it has set up a joint venture in Jamaica to boost sales of Toyota vehicles on the Caribbean island.
The newly launched company, Toyota Jamaica Ltd., will start operations Tuesday, Toyota Tsusho said.
Capitalized at 130 million yen, Toyota Jamaica is 80 percent owned by Toyota Tsusho, with the remainder held by a local dealership.
About 470 Toyota vehicles were sold in Jamaica in fiscal 1998, giving Toyota around a 10 percent share of the local market. Its main sales were in commercial vehicles such as the Hiace wagon.
Toyota, however, expects an increase in sales of passenger cars, and has set the fiscal 2005 sales target in Jamaica at about 870 units.