European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Global drive by Terril Jones associated press robots resembling elephant trunks and giraffes Snake their Way around half assembled hondas spewing showers of Sparks As they Weld steel frames and produce a car in just 14 hours. Only in Japan no an identical factory is churning out hondas in Ohio. Thousands of those  hondas will be shipped to Japan and thousands More of the Japan built hondas will be sold in the United states. Quot global is the theme in Japan a thriving Auto Industry. Honda Toyota and Nissan Are building More cars abroad and slowly blurring the National origin of automobiles historically one of the most powerful symbols of a country s manufacturing might. The strategy makes sense to japanese Auto companies because it can defuse Trade tensions. The strategy also places manufacturing and Assembly closer to buyers cutting costs. Ultimately much of the profit still flows Back to Japan. A we do business according to our philosophy of manufacturing products in the Market in which they Are sold Quot says Honda senior managing director Shoichiro Irimaji i. Localization of research and production facilities Quot Means they can become new Supply bases for Honda a global sales  Honda says it is ready to Export  hondas to Europe for the first time. In labor Short Japan no one grumbles about exporting jobs. To fill labor needs the Auto Industry must hire part timers who can make More than $2,700 a month Irimaji i said during a tour of Honda a 9-month-old futuristic factory at Suzuka in Central Japan. The Suzuka Plant claims to be Japan s most automated car factory. Individual carriers Glide along silently automatically raising or lowering the cars depending on the work done. Workers Wear White jumpsuits with slogans on the Chest a Quot aim for Zero accidents Quot or Quot avoid the five Assembly  late last year a sister factory built from virtually the same blueprints went on line in Ohio a the latest addition Nissan a 1990 Pulsar no was designed in California. To the so called Quot transplant Quot shops. Honda the first japanese automaker to build cars in the United states has met with huge Success. Last year americans bought More Honda accords a 60 percent of them  a than any other car. In late 1989 Honda was outselling Chrysler in the United states. Flush with earnings from a booming Domestic Market japanese automakers Are aggressively expanding overseas. Japanese production capacity is Likely to top 1 million cars in the United states this year and in Europe by 1998. The japanese Are opening or expanding factories in the United states As american automakers Lay off thousands of employees and close factories for weeks at a time because they can t sell enough cars. Toyota foresees a 32-percent surge in overseas production this year to 650,000 cars and Mitsubishi motors which operates a joint venture Plant with Chrysler forecasts overseas production up 33 percent to 410,000. Honda s production abroad will be up 17 percent to 525,000, Nissan s up 7 percent to 683,000 and Mazda a steady at 220,000. Honda and Toyota Are following Nissan s Lead in building factories in Britain Mazda is close to announcing car makers growing stake in the . More  of Honda motor company employees in thousands. Increasing production. In millions. Honda 80 United states .1 80 �?T81 �?T82 �?T83 �?T84 85 and climbing a amp sales in thousands. 800 87 �?T88 �?T88 80 81 �?T62 �?T83 �?T84 �?T85 �?T86 �?T87 �?T88 �?T89 source Honda motor company not Nissan a factory built jointly with Ford probably in West Germany Mitsubishi is expected to set up a european production base and Chrysler is looking for an overseas partner to build a subcompact with Mitsubishi motors the prime candidate As the two jointly run a factory in the United states. Mitsubishi s Parent company has announced it was negotiating a cooperation agreement with West Germany s Daimler Benz group in what could provide the japanese conglomerate with an enormous advantage in setting up shop in Europe. Quot none of the japanese have any kind of sales network in Continental Europe and it s very expensive to set one up from scratch Quot says Rama Krishna an Auto analyst for the investment firm first Boston Asia. Quot you la see tie  Between japanese and local or american manufacturers a lot More joint production designing and  Many cars already have hybrid nationality. Nissan s new Pulsar no was designed by americans at Nissan a design subsidiary in California and Mazda s new Navajo sport Utility vehicle was designed and built by Ford. Mazda builds Ford lasers telstar and festival in Japan and Toyota a joint venture with general motors in California makes both Toyota corollas and Chevrolet Novas. A new twist is shipping foreign made japanese cars to Japan. Honda started importing american made accords in 1988, and Toyota plans to Start in 1992. Mazda built Fords have been imported since 1988, and Nissan May do the same from its Plant in Britain. Honda plans to import 50,000  hondas annually by 1991, qui Tupling this year s imports to Japan. Japanese car exports to the United states currently limited to 2.3 million a year were still Worth $20.9 billion in 1989, according to the ministry of International Trade and Industry. That s about 40 percent of the . Trade deficit with Japan and concern is rising across the Pacific. In Europe protectionism is on the Rise with car makers pressing for tighter quotas on japanese imports. Some europeans have even proposed that japanese cars built in Europe should be counted As imports. Europeans spent a record $10 billion on japanese cars last year according to the Japan automobile manufacturers association. Japanese moves into North America and Europe have contributed to a decline in car exports for the last four years but that trend partly disguises the earnings of japanese automakers from their foreign operations. The rising value clearly worries some japanese Auto executives because it could incite More Trade backslashes. Government Trade officials also sensitive to hostile foreign reaction have asked automakers to keep investment in new plants and equipment from resulting in increased shipments overseas. Heightened exports could especially provoke a hostile response in the United states where the big three a general motors corp. Ford motor co. And Chrysler corp. A All reported severe earnings declines last year. Prit 2,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15