Japanese automakers need to keep improving their electric vehicles to maintain their global competitive edge as new rivals in China and South Korea enter the race for energy-efficient cars, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. President Osamu Masuko said.
"The competition will become severely intense from this point forward, so our global strategy will be to constantly study how we can maintain our comparative advantage," Masuko said in an interview Wednesday, though he admitted that few people in Japan actually understand the merits of driving the zero-emission car.
Auto giants Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are currently trying to survive the shrinking auto market with electric-gasoline hybrids, and success in the electric vehicle market would allow Japan to stay ahead amid the recent turmoil afflicting conventional rivals General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.