| 2014/05/12 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Maserati, VW Lead Foreign Cars Making Inroads in Japan
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), its parts makers and dealers continue to push
back on union proposals to increase wages for workers in Japan, a top labor
official said.
Some management for the companies have said they can’t meet requests because higher wages would increase costs and that employment should be prioritized, said Masamoto Azuma, chairman of the Federation of All Toyota Workers’ Unions, which is comprised of 312 unions that represent about 329,000 members.
“The management’s thinking is very distant from our requests, the rift has remained,” Azuma said yesterday in Toyota City, Japan. “This kind of management is just too selfish. They only speak from their own standpoint.”
The comments underscore tough negotiations between unions and companies pressured by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to raise wages and bring an end to Japan’s deflation. Abe has urged pay increases as his economic policies have weakened the yen and boosted earnings from exports and overseas sales, driving Toyota’s forecast for a record 1.9 trillion yen ($18.5 billion) profit this fiscal year.
“Toyota’s decision is a sign for judging whether Prime Minister Abe’s growth
strategy will work or not,” said Takeshi Miyao, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at Carnorama Japan. “Toyota has concerns because the domestic market will probably slow down
after the increase in the consumption tax, and uncertainties remain in
a lot of overseas markets.”
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BLOOMBERG
Last Updated: 2014/05/12 18:56 JST
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| 2014/03/07 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Toyota Unions Say Rift With Management Remains on Wages
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), its parts makers and dealers continue to push
back on union proposals to increase wages for workers in Japan, a top labor
official said.
Some management for the companies have said they can’t meet requests because higher wages would increase costs and that employment should be prioritized, said Masamoto Azuma, chairman of the Federation of All Toyota Workers’ Unions, which is comprised of 312 unions that represent about 329,000 members.
“The management’s thinking is very distant from our requests, the rift has remained,” Azuma said yesterday in Toyota City, Japan. “This kind of management is just too selfish. They only speak from their own standpoint.”
The comments underscore tough negotiations between unions and companies pressured by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to raise wages and bring an end to Japan’s deflation. Abe has urged pay increases as his economic policies have weakened the yen and boosted earnings from exports and overseas sales, driving Toyota’s forecast for a record 1.9 trillion yen ($18.5 billion) profit this fiscal year.
“Toyota’s decision is a sign for judging whether Prime Minister Abe’s growth
strategy will work or not,” said Takeshi Miyao, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at Carnorama Japan. “Toyota has concerns because the domestic market will probably slow down
after the increase in the consumption tax, and uncertainties remain in
a lot of overseas markets.”
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Last Updated: 2014/03/07 12:01 JST
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| 2014/01/15 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
アイシン：電子関連企業に関心､買収も視野－自動運転車見据え
1月15日（ブルームバーグ）：トヨタ自動車 グループの部品メーカー、アイシン精機 の藤森文雄社長は、電子関連メーカーの技術の取り込みにＭ＆Ａ（企業の合併・買収）を含めて関心を持っていることを明らかにした。急速に進展している自動車の電子化に対応する狙いがある。
藤森氏は愛知県刈谷市の本社での８日のインタビューで、アイシンにない技術を持っているメーカーと「提携するなり共同開発するなり、場合によってはＭ＆Ａも視野に入れている」とした上で、具体的に興味がある分野としては「電子系がらみのところ」とした。
最近の自動車には自動ブレーキによる衝突防止システムが普及してきているほか、車が自ら走行路や障害物を認識してハンドルを操作するなど自動運転技術の実用化に国内外のメーカーが取り組んでいる。こうした技術ではさまざまな電子部品が使用されており、自動車部品メーカーも対応を迫られている。トヨタグループの部品メーカーでは最大手のデンソー が昨年、家電メーカーで電子部品も手掛けるシャープ の第三者割当増資に応じて25億円を出資している。
自動車調査会社、カノラマの宮尾健アナリストは、背景として「車の電子化がここにきて加速している面もある」とし、「アイシン精機はデンソーなどに比べ、電子系が若干弱い印象があり、そこを補完する意味もある」と指摘。その上で、「余力があるということではないか。利益を出して税金で払うよりもその分どこかに投資して自社にない技術を取り込む狙いがあるのでは」との見方を示した。
BLOOMBERG
Last Updated: 2014/01/15 11:48 JST
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| 2014/01/15 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Toyota Supplier Looks for Electronic Parts Manufacturers
Aisin Seiki Co. (7259), an auto-parts maker that counts Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) as its biggest customer, is considering acquiring or collaborating with electronic component makers to develop parts.
“It’s not possible to develop everything by ourselves,” President Fumio Fujimori, 65, said in an interview at Kariya, Japan, where Aisin Seiki is based. The component maker is part owned by Toyota Motor.
Toyota last year said it will introduce systems in about two years enabling cars to communicate with each other to avoid collision. As self-driving systems and such new features become the next big trend for automakers, component makers are ramping up their efforts to supply for such vehicles.
“We are looking at companies of the electronics industry to help improve usability and comfort in cars,” Fujimori said on Jan. 8. He didn’t provide details of companies Aisin Seiki is looking to acquire or partner with.
New Technologies
“Among major auto parts makers, Aisin is relatively weak in electronic parts, which is rapidly advancing as carmakers are now looking into technologies for products such as autonomous cars,” said Takeshi Miyao, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at Carnorama Japan. “The fact that Aisin is interested in acquiring tech parts makers means they can finance that.”
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Last Updated: 2014/01/15 15:15 JST
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| 2013/11/19 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Honda to Nissan Bet Small Is Profitable With Minicar Push: Cars
At the Tokyo Motor Show opening this week, Honda Motor Co. will unveil
the two-seat S660 convertible, its first mini sports car since 1996. Daihatsu
Motor Co. has a rival model with panels that can be changed like an iPhone
cover. More than a third of the show’s debuts will be mini vehicles, up
from about 14 percent in 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Manufacturers are jazzing up the “kei” car -- as they’re known in Japanese -- to escape their image as boxy utility vehicles driven by country bumpkins and older people, and attract new buyers into the biggest bright spot for the world’s No. 3 car market.
“People who drove minicars used to be made fun of,” said Takeshi Miyao, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at Carnorama Japan. “Now, even those who drive sedans are looking.”
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Last Updated: 2013/11/19 08;51 JST
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| 2013/07/16 CCTV 中国中央テレビ にて放映 |
Japanese auto industry focuses on luxury cars
Japanese automakers are raising sales and profits, helped by economic recovery in the U-S and Japan. Toyota, Nissan and Honda are focusing less on budget vehicles and more on luxury cars with higher profit margins.
The new version of Honda’s best-selling Accord - a high end hybrid at a premium price. Its 20% more expensive than its closes competitor, Toyota’s gas-electric Camry. Honda’s president still thinks there’s demand for the 38-thousand dollar car.
Ito’s optimism is based on a strong track record. U.S. sales of the previous version of the Accord have risen 23% this year and analysts say, with signs of a global economic recovery its luxury models like this that will drive sales growth.
Miyao says a weakening yen and a recovering US economy will lift North American sales growth and be a key profit driver for the big three Japanese carmakers this year. Further down the road, he says sales will come from markets much closer to home.
As the world’s biggest car market China is the key to higher sales and profits for automakers. And Japanese makers are still struggling because of customer boycotts over the China-Japan territorial dispute. Toyota was the only one of the big three to increase sales in June…Honda’s sales slid 5.6%, Nissan’s were 7.7% lower.
CCTV
Last Updated: 2013/07/16 09;46 JST
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| 2013/06/25 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
トヨタ社長は低燃費世界一ＣＥＯか-Ｖ字回復も報酬ＶＷ及ばず
6月25日（ブルームバーグ）：トヨタ自動車の小型ハイブリッド車「アクア」が世界一の低燃費車とすれば、同社を率いる豊田章男社長は世界の自動車業界でもっとも燃費がいい最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）というべきかもしれない。リコールや東日本大震災、円高などの逆境を跳ね返して自動車販売世界一の座を奪還する中で、報酬は競合他社の経営者と比べて格段に低い水準にある。
自動車業界トップは株主の期待にどれだけ応えたのだろうか。12年度の株価は、トヨタが36％の上昇に対し、日産自は2.7％高に過ぎない。12年の海外大手と比較すると、56％高だったトヨタは、57％高のＶＷにほぼ匹敵、42％高のＧＭや、20％高のフォードを上回っている。
もっとも、創業家出身で、トヨタ発行済み株式の0.13％にあたる約459万株を保有する豊田氏にとって、13年度は配当収入の大幅な増加を期待できそうだ。
自動車調査会社、カノラマの宮尾健アナリストは、日本では経営者が巨額の配当金を受け取ると批判を受けることもあると前置きした上で、開発にだけ利益を回すと「株主をおざなりにしてることになる」とも指摘し、配当金は業績に合わせて増やすなど「きちっと株主に回していくと良い」と話した。
BLOOMBERG
Last Updated: 2013/06/25 07;53 JST
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| 2013/06/20 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Honda Bets Buyers Will Pay Mileage Premium for Hybrid Accord
Honda Motor Co. (7267), Japan’s third-largest carmaker, unveiled a hybrid
sedan at a 20 percent higher price than Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s gasoline-electric
Camry, betting drivers will pay extra for fuel economy.
The hybrid Accord sales begin tomorrow in Japan at a 3.65 million yen ($38,000) starting price, Tokyo-based Honda said today in a statement. That’s 610,000 yen more than the 3.04 million yen dual-powered Camry. The hybrid Accord starts U.S. sales in October, according to a separate statement today.
The carmaker can demand a premium for the Accord hybrid because it is at
the top of the carmaker’s line, said Takeshi Miyao, a Tokyo-based industry analyst at Carnorama Japan. Instead of only comparing the car against Toyota’s Camry, consumers may
also compare it with the Lexus, he said.
The Lexus IS hybrid starts at 4.8 million yen in Japan, according to the carmaker’s website.
“The Accord is Honda’s high-end, flagship model,” Miyao said. “So if consumers compare it against the Lexus IS Hybrid, they may view it as a good, reasonably priced car.”
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Last Updated: 2013/06/20 18;14 JST
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| 2013/05/17 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Honda Returns to F1 Racing as Engine Supplier to McLaren
Honda Motor Co. (7267) will return to Formula One as an engine supplier
to help develop its technology after exiting the racing series in 2008.
The maker of Acura NSX sportscar will provide motors to its former F1 racing partner McLaren Automotive Ltd. starting in 2015, Takanobu Ito, president of the Tokyo-based automaker, told reporters yesterday. He declined to comment on how much the automaker intends to spend on the effort.
Honda previously owned F1 teams and won 15 of 16 races in 1988 as a supplier to the McLaren team including three-time world champion driver Ayrton Senna. The automaker’s role as an engine supplier for a team to be renamed McLaren Honda comes after it took over the British American Racing team in 2005, only to drop out three years later to cut costs amid the global financial crisis.
“Racing is like a backbone for Honda, so their return carries a very good image,” said Takeshi Miyao, a Tokyo-based industry analyst at Carnorama Japan. “Their return should be good advertising.”
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Last Updated: 2013/05/17 12;00 JST
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| 2013/03/07 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
トヨタ：内山田副会長が会長に昇格、張会長は名誉会長へ
３月７日（ブルームバーグ）：トヨタ自動車は６日、内山田竹志副会長を会長に昇格させることなどを柱とする役員人事を発表した。張富士夫会長は名誉会長となる予定。副社長も大幅に入れ替える。主力の自動車事業の組織改正も同時に発表し、新興国事業の強化などの課題に対応しながら、需要の増減に柔軟に対応できる体制づくりを急ぐ。
トヨタが発表した資料によると、プリウスの開発責任者を務めた内山田氏は代表権のある会長となり、副会長ポストは空席となる。内山田氏は経団連副会長への就任も内定している。副社長には伊原保守取締役専務役員(61)と須藤誠一専務役員(61)が新たに昇格し、布野幸利、新美篤志、佐々木真一の３副社長は退任する。また、トヨタとして初となる社外取締役も３人登用する。今年の株主総会を経て正式決定する。
自動車調査会社カノラマの宮尾健アナリストはユニット事業の新設について、独フォルクスワーゲンなどが先行して進める部品の共通化に対応するものだろうと指摘。トヨタが今以上のコストダウンを実現するには共通化の導入は不可欠と指摘した上で、今回の組織改正で「あまり時間をかけずにやろうと、きっちり態勢を整えた」との見方を示した。
豊田社長は会見で、国内の生産規模について年間300万台は「最低限必要」とのこれまでの認識を繰り返した。６日付の朝日新聞は15年の国内生産台数を270万台に減らす方針を固めたと報じていた。
BLOOMBERG
Last Updated: 2013/03/07 00;00 JST
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| 2013/03/07 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Toyota President Seeks End to Turmoil With Global Revamp
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) President Akio Toyoda cleared out the remnants
of top management inherited when he took the helm in 2009 in a revamp to
restore the fortunes of the world’s biggest carmaker after years of turmoil.
Toyota yesterday announced the retirement of the only three executive vice presidents not appointed by Toyoda and laid out a new, more clearly defined corporate structure with a greater focus on emerging markets. Three outside directors will join the board for the first time, including former General Motors Co. (GM) Vice President Mark Hogan, who’s known Toyoda since they worked at a U.S. joint venture more than a decade ago.
“After the reshuffle, Akio’s burden should be reduced and he should be
able to have more time to concentrate on the bigger picture,” said Takeshi Miyao, an analyst for Carnorama Japan in Tokyo. “Toyota’s new management is impressive in the sense that the roles for
each executive are clearly defined.”
Key to the plan’s success will be Yasumori Ihara, who was named executive vice president in charge of emerging markets. Ihara, 61, who was rehired by Toyota when Toyoda was named president in 2009, has the challenge of reversing the company’s declining sales in China, the world’s largest automobile market.
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Last Updated: 2013/03/07 12:06 JST
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| 2013/02/21 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Hyundai Home Advantage Vanishes as Koreans Say Camry Best
For more than two decades, Hyundai Motor Co. (005830) could count on the sun rising each morning and for South Koreans to buy South Korean vehicles. Then Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s Camry became the country’s “Car of the Year.”
Sure, it’s the same staid sedan that won consumers’ hearts around the globe as more than 14 million units rolled off Toyota production lines since 1982. But given Korea’s fraught relationship with its one-time and sometimes brutal occupier, it was a surprise the country’s auto journalists awarded the title to any Japanese car.
“Before, Korean people chose what they wore, what they used, what cars
they drove based on whether they were made by Koreans,” said Takeshi Miyao, an industry analyst at researcher Carnorama Japan in Tokyo. “If you look at the streets of Seoul now, younger people are buying imported
brands, and choosing based on whether they’re good quality.”
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Last Updated: 2013/02/21 15:50 JST
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| 2013/02/21 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
国産車有利の歴史に終止符－「カムリ」が韓国で「今年の車」
２月21日（ブルームバーグ）：ヒュンダイモーターカンパニー（現代自動車）にとってこの20年余り、毎朝日が昇るように韓国人が韓国車を買うのは当然だった。ところが今年はトヨタ自動車の「カムリ」が韓国の「カー・オブ・ザ・イヤー」に輝いた。
確かにカムリは世界中の消費者の心をつかんでいる。1982年の生産開始以来、1400万台以上が出荷された。しかし、朝鮮半島を統治した歴史がある日本との複雑な関係を考えると、韓国の自動車ジャーナリストらが日本車をその年の最も優秀な車に選んだことは驚きだ。
自動車調査会社カノラマの宮尾健アナリストは「韓国製のものを着たり、持ってるのがプライドだったのに対して、今はグローバルに評価されているブランドを持つことが良い、という意識に変わってきている」と話す。
カムリは過去に受賞してきた現代自や起亜自のモデルなど44車種を差し置いて、海外ブランドとして初めて韓国自動車記者協会の賞を獲得した。
BLOOMBERG
Last Updated: 2013/02/21 13:17 JST
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| 2013/02/01 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
国際カルテルの車部品メーカー、海外で巨額制裁金のリスク
２月１日（ブルームバーグ）：自動車部品の国際価格カルテルをめぐり、公正取引委員会から課徴金支払い命令などを受けた国内部品メーカーの今後の利益は、制裁金の規模が大きい海外の競争当局から処分が出た場合に大きく押し下げられる可能性がある。
公取委と米司法省、欧州連合（ＥＵ）など各国・地域の競争当局が2010年から全容解明に向け進めてきた調査ではこれまでのところ、主に日本の自動車部品メーカーが対象とされている。一部企業が日本や米国で課徴金や罰金支払いに応じたケースはあるものの、今後の調査の進展によってはさらに巨額の制裁金支払いを迫られる可能性も残っている。
自動車調査会社、カノラマのアナリストで日本の自動車部品メーカーでの勤務経験がある宮尾健氏は「協豊会のような団体で取引先を集めてコミュニティーをつくるのが昔からの日本のやり方だった」と指摘。トヨタ以外のほぼすべての自動車メーカーには同種の部品メーカーグループが存在し、「日本の自動車業界には必要なものだったが、欧米の商習慣の中では違和感があり、悪と判断された」と指摘。
カルテル問題の表面化以降、多くの自動車部品メーカーは法令順守（コンプライアンス）強化を進め、情報の持ち出しが制限され、家に仕事を持ち帰れなくなるなど弊害も出ているという。業界全体にとっては「これまで不要だった手続きをやらなければならなくなるということで生産性は下がる。確実にマイナスの影響が出てくるだろう」と述べた。
BLOOMBERG
Last Updated: 2013/02/01 10:04 JST
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| 2013/01/30 BLOOMBERG-NEWSより抜粋 |
Toyota Spices Up Middle-Aged Corolla to Bolster Profits
With Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) back on top as the world’s largest automaker,
President Akio Toyoda isn’t looking to a relative youngster like the Prius
hybrid to defend that lead. Instead, he’s counting on a middle-aged veteran:
the 47-year-old Corolla.
Later this year -- the company hasn’t said when or where -- Toyota plans to introduce a revamped version of its global best seller, which last underwent a redesign in 2008. No launch is more consequential for Toyota this year as the Prius isn’t due for a major change until 2014 and a new Camry sedan came out only about a year ago.
The Civic overtook the Corolla as the best-selling compact sedan in the
U.S. last year, according to researcher Autodata Corp. This year, global
sales of the Corolla will probably increase 7 percent to 1.3 million units,
according to Takeshi Miyao, an analyst with researcher Carnorama Japan in Tokyo.
The declining popularity of the Corolla -- described as “bland” by Consumer Reports magazine in 2012 -- has been mirrored in the company’s earnings and share price, which have fallen since their peaks after the yen appreciated and recalls for defects associated with unintended acceleration dented Toyota’s reputation for quality.
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Last Updated: 2013/01/30 18:14 JST
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