While praising the yen’s recent weakening, Japanese car industry executives said they thought the currency was still a long way from being where it needs to be to ease pressure on domestic production.
Toshiyuki Shiga, chairman of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said the yen is gradually softening on the back of a pickup in US consumption, the improving debt-crisis situation in Europe and monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.
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He described the yen as coming back to “super strong” from “super, super strong.”
Spurred on by easing by the central bank and improving economic conditions abroad, the dollar hit JPY84.00 on Thursday (15 March), its highest level since April 2011.
Shiga, who is also Nissan’s chief officer, added that he hoped the government and the BOJ would continue to take appropriate measures to ease the yen’s strength.
Mazda president and chief executive, Takashi Yamanouchi, said he would like to see the yen weaken further. For his company the yen’s levels are particularly crucial, as it exports about 80% of vehicles it builds in Japan – the highest ratio among Japanese car makers.
But as Mazda continues pursuing more efficient vehicle development, trimming capital spending and tighter cost-control in other operations, it is now able to export its new CX-5 sport-utility vehicle model profitably with the dollar at JPY77, Yamanouchi said.
A strong yen makes Japanese-made vehicles more expensive abroad and hits their price competitiveness against global rivals. The situation has prompted Japanese car makers to increasingly look to ramp up output overseas to cut costs.
