Six of Japan’s major automakers will resume plant operations on weekends to manufacture hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars amid signs of an improvement in car demand thanks to recently introduced government tax breaks.
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But with auto exports still weak, industry officials told Kyodo News it remained uncertain whether domestic production would fully recover from a severe auto slump triggered by the global economic recession.
”In order for domestic production to improve, we need a recovery of global auto demand that will lead to exports,” Satoshi Aoki, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association and Honda Motor, said recently.
Toyota will restart weekend production to meet booming demand for the new Prius hybrid car which has received orders for over 200,000 units since its debut in mid-May.
Toyota will operate the Prius plant in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, and its manufacturing unit Toyota Auto Body will operate the plant in Kariya in the same prefecture on July 11, a Saturday.
The subsidiary will also resume operations at its plant in Inabe, Mie Prefecture, which manufactures the Alphard and Vellfire minivans, on July 4 and 11.
Honda, Toyota’s main competitor in the hybrid race, has also seen a recovery in demand for its Insight hybrid hatchback and the Freed minivan after tax breaks for eco-friendly cars began in April.
Japan’s second-largest automaker will resume weekend operations on July 11 at its plant in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, for the first time in eight months, and also at another plant in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, for the first time since December.
Four other Japanese automakers – Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda, Daihatsu Motor and Fuji Heavy Industries – will also take similar measures in July.
While signs of an easing in drastic production cuts are beginning to emerge, the automakers are still far from removing the measures altogether.
Mitsubishi Motors, for example, will resume output on Saturdays during this month at its Nagoya plant in the city of Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture on the back of robust sales of its Colt compact car.
But it also plans to suspend operations at its Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, for six days in July due to lacklustre overseas sales.
