GM's Wagoner criticizes Japan's yen-selling intervention

NEW YORK March 5, 2004; Japan Today reported that Rick Wagoner, chief executive officer of General Motors Corp, criticized Japan's recent efforts to lower the value of the yen, saying it gives Japanese carmakers an unfair pricing advantage on each car they sell in the United States.

Wagoner said in an interview published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal that the Ministry of Finance's purchases of billions of dollars in international currency markets lower the cost of Japanese-made engines and other components that companies like Toyota Motor Corp use in cars assembled at their U.S. plants. (Kyodo News)