Suzuki Motor is to spend about JPY50bn (US$620m) relocating some domestic development and production facilities to new locations in Japan for protection against big earthquakes and tsunamis.

According to Reuters, it will purchase two blocks of land in an industrial park in Hamamatsu city, in central Japan, one for research and development and the other for production of motorcycle engine parts and next generation vehicles. Operations at the new facilities are set to begin in August 2016 and May 2017, respectively.

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The news follows CEO Osamu Suzuki’s warning last month that the Hamamatsu-based automaker would have to spread out some of its domestic facilities because they were all concentrated in the central Tokai region of Japan, long seen at high risk of being hit by a massive earthquake.

A spokesman told the news agency that, while the new facilities will be in Hamamatsu, they will be about 15km from the coast and on more solid ground. Its motorcycle research centre is currently about 200 to 300m from the shoreline.

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