Honda Motor chief executive Takeo Fukui in Thursday said his firm aimed to keep production levels high in the United States and purchase more parts in the US to help support the US economy and its floundering auto industry, the Los Angeles Times said.
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The CEO reportedly said such measures were preferable to raising prices on Japanese cars.
Inevitably, there were ‘clarifications’ of the remarks from senior Honda officials in Japan on Friday, according to Japanese media reports.
According to the LA Times, Fukui said Honda currently produces about 80% of its vehicles for the American market in the US and buys many parts needed for its US-market cars from local suppliers.
The paper noted that General Motors and have seen their US market share become sharply eroded by Asian rivals while some Japanese automakers fear a protectionist backlash in America.
In an apparent effort to stave off anti-Japanese sentiments, Toyota Motor chairman Hiroshi Okuda said last month that he was considering raising prices in the US, as well as sharing technological research to help troubled US automakers, the Los Angeles Times report added.
