Brussels, Feb 27: An official of a Japanese carindustry group said on Thursday that the southeast Asian financial crisis would have "an enormous impact" on Japanese vehicle manufacturers.Akira Yokoi, chairman of the international committee of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association (JAMA), said in an interview that Japanese car exports to the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) would not be greatly affected because production was localised but the "overall operation" in those countries would contract.
Vehicle companies already manufacturing in Asean countries were the ones that would suffer most, he said.The currencies of several southeast Asian nations plunged in value late last year, undermining their citizens' spending power.
Asean groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos.
Yokoi, who is also an executive vice president of ToyotaMotor Corp, said he expected total investment by Japanesemanufacturers and by parts manufacturers in Europe to increase "because production in Europe will increase."Whether a trend of rising Japanese car exports to Europe continued in 1998 would depend on how strong the European market was, he said, speaking through an interpreter.
"If the European markets do very well, then probably the number of imports will increase," he said.
Japanese vehicle exports rose sharply in 1997, the first gain in 12 years, according to figures reported by JAMA last month. Exports to the 15-nation European Union jumped almost 28 percent from a year earlier to 1.025 million vehicles.
This was below the quota of 1.14 million vehicles set for last year under an agreement designed to limit Japanese car exports to Europe, Yokoi said during a visit to Brussels.
All Japanese car manufacturers had observed the quota, he said, adding that Japanese manufacturers in Europe wanted to be good corporate citizens.
He said the import quota was no longer such a big issue because Japanesemanufacturers wanted to make cars where they sold them.
Yokoi's own company, Toyota, has announced ambitious expansion plans in Europe.Late last year, Toyota announced it would build a new plant in northern France to produce a compact car for the European market. It already has a plant in Derbyshire in Britain.Toyota, Japan's largest carmaker, said earlier this month it planned to sell 520,000 cars in Europe this year, 10.6 per cent up on 1997.
Speaking in his role as Toyota executive, Yokoi said Toyota wanted to reinforce its presence in Europe and it had high hopes for the new French factory.
"In terms of family relations, our first son is Britain and our second son, if you like, is France. So we want to see our second son grow just like our first son in Derbyshire which has grown very well," he said.
Speaking as a JAMA representative again, Yokoi said that old tensions between Europe and Japan over cars had eased greatly. "I think the relationship between the EU and Japan has (become) a very goodone. We haven't had any major problems. The rules are very clear. We've been observing the rules and I think everything is going very well."
Yokoi said he would hold talks on Friday with officials of the European Commission, the European Union's executive body. Japanese vehicle manufacturers wanted to strengthen cooperation with the commission and "take any necessary action" to further improve their good relationship, he said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
