Japan’s supplier body says the current huge imbalance in the Yen/Dollar exchange rate is “unacceptable,” and it does not envisage the situation changing rapidly.
The current rate of around JPY78 to US$1 is causing severe pain for Japan’s exporters, although the supplier association conceded the country’s importers were receiving an inverse boost.
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“The Yen exchange rate is a big issue,” Japan Auto Parts Industry Association (JAPIA) managing director, Takehide Takahashi, told just-auto today at the Paris motor show.
“JPY78 to the US dollar is unacceptable from the viewpoint of our exporters [although] JPY78 for our importers is good. Yesterday, some [Japanese] government officials came to our [Tokyo] office to explain the exchange rate and they said the government can do nothing.”
The JAPIA chief conceded his 445 members in Japan could hedge the exchange rate against future fluctuations, but nonetheless insisted a figure of between JPY100 and JPY120 was “preferable.”
Takahashi’s comments came following JAPIA’s annual global meeting with fellow supplier bodies, CLEPA from Europe and OESA from the US, today [27 September] at the Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris, that discussed issues such as intellectual property and the prevalence of counterfeiting in emerging markets.
The JAPIA managing director added the Japanese government had ended its temporary subsidies for electric vehicles, plug-ins hybrids and hybrids two days ago.
“They declared they have no money – the resources have run out,” said Takahashi. “It [was] a temporary measure.
“If the [Japanese] government has some good ideas or tools to introduce to the auto market, that will be appreciated.”
