Japan sees no major trouble from GM bankruptcy
TOKYO — Japan stands ready to assist any Japanese companies seriously hurt by fallout from General Motors’ imminent bankruptcy, government officials said Monday, while brushing off fears of major troubles.
“We do not foresee any major confusion at this point,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters.
Kawamura, the government’s top spokesman, said Japan will offer help if financial woes spread to Japan’s myriad of auto-parts suppliers. Japan has programs for government-backed loans and other assistance for such companies.
General Motors Corp. will file for bankruptcy protection Monday U.S. time in a deal that will give taxpayers a 60 percent ownership stake.
Detroit-based GM has business ties with more than 100 Japanese suppliers, many of them small companies vulnerable to cash shortages.
Worries about GM’s future have topped the news for months in Japan — home to some of the world’s top automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. But the response has been relatively calm, even as executives acknowledge the possibility of ripple-effects on the industry and American consumer sentiments.
In the long run, a weakened GM is expected to provide a growth opportunity for Japanese automakers with their strength in smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles.
Toyota surpassed GM as the world’s biggest automaker by annual vehicle sales last year. Honda President Takeo Fukui has acknowledged, but only in response to a reporter’s question, that the problems of GM can be a big opportunity — in the long run.
GM has struggled to penetrate Japan’s market, but is a leader in nearby China, the world’s second-biggest vehicle market, where its sales have been rising strongly.
Japanese executives have tried to keep a relative low profile about GM’s woes because of a history of “Japan-bashing” in the 1980s, when they were criticized as taking away American jobs with their exports to the U.S. Now, many Japanese cars are assembled in U.S. factories by American employees.
Japan’s executives and politicians alike want to avoid confusion in the industry here when the nation is fighting its worst recession in postwar history. The plunge in U.S. auto sales since the financial crisis hit last year has sent Toyota into its worst loss since its 1937 founding.
Some Japanese companies, including Aisin Seiki, have applied for a part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s $5 billion support program for suppliers. But it’s unclear whether they will get any of the money.
Toshihiro Nikai, minister of economy, trade and industry, said he was monitoring how GM’s bankruptcy may affect the Japan.
“Should the need arise, we will consider measures,” he said.
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