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Joint International Ventures Among Automakers are Good for Economy

24 October 2000

Majority of Americans Agree Joint International Ventures Among Automakers are Good for American Economy; New Survey Shows 71 Percent are Positive on Mutual Investment

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 In a poll released today, 71 percent
of Americans agree that joint international ventures and mutual investments
between American and Japanese automakers are good for the U.S. economy,
according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
    "Clearly most Americans are aware of the substantial benefits brought by
the globalization of the U.S. automobile industry. These benefits include
capital investment, higher employment, and above all the healthy competition
which provides consumers with quality vehicles at reasonable prices," said
William C. Duncan, General Director, JAMA USA.
    "The wide range of technical and capital ties that have developed between
Japanese and U.S. auto and auto parts companies over the past five years have
dramatically changed the face of the industry. Globalization has rendered old-
style confrontation between nations both obsolete and counterproductive.
Globalization through cooperation and competition is clearly the only route to
prosperity for auto companies, auto parts companies, their employees and
consumers alike," Duncan added.
    The survey is included in the new JAMA publication "Japan's Auto Companies
at the Dawn of a New Era: Part of the Fabric of America."
    The brochure explores the investment stakes and production relationships
in the global auto industry including those involving DaimlerChrysler, Ford,
General Motors, Honda, Isuzu, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki and
Toyota. Over the last two decades, as manufacturers increasingly invest and
produce in foreign markets, there has developed such a wide range of inter-
relationships between the world's automakers that it is difficult, if not
impossible, to tell by brand name what is an American, Japanese, or European
car.
    In fact, 66 percent of Americans surveyed agreed that a car made in
America by Americans is a U.S. product regardless of make of car. In addition,
73 percent agreed  that global competition in the auto industry has led U.S.
automakers to produce cars and trucks of higher quality. The survey of 1,000
was conducted by International Communications Research (ICR) for JAMA in
September 2000.
    The brochure also highlights:

    *  More than 286,000 Americans were employed in 1999 by Japanese-
       affiliated automakers and their dealers;
    *  Japanese automakers cumulatively invested $16.5 billion in their U.S.
       auto plants and auto parts manufacturing operations;
    *  Japanese production in the U.S. totaled more than 2.4 million vehicles
       and nearly 2 million engines in 1999. The locally built vehicles, from
       nine U.S. plants, accounted for 64 percent of total U.S. sales. 1999
       imports from Japan were at 1.5 million --in 1986 imports were 3.4
       million;
    *  Purchases of U.S.-made auto parts by Japanese automakers reached almost
       $32 billion in fiscal 1999 (April 1999-March 2000);
    *  In 1999, Japanese manufacturers' affiliates in the U.S. exported
       128,000 American-built cars and trucks to countries around the world.