Toyota chief executive and Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) chairman Akio Toyoda has a three-point plan to keep his country’s automotive industry working during the COVID-19 pandemic and prepared for a full return to production.
At a call-to-action press conference, he told Japanese auto industry groups there are three keys thing they can do now.
First, they can thank healthcare workers and their families “and provide any support we can.”
That means initially making face masks for their own employees, easing pressure on the general supply chain.
They can make vacant company accommodation buildings and recreational facilities available for mildly infected patients; and use their manufacturing know-how to help boost ventilator production.
They can also make vehicles available to transport patients, make hospital beds, and provide personal protection equipment for rental car workers at airports.
Second, they can “keep doing business, whatever we can, to keep the economy running.” Toyoda says that after World War 2 Toyota survived by producing whatever was needed – “things like frying pans and pots…”
Subaru made agricultural equipment, babies’ prams, sewing machines, hair clippers.
Dealers without cars to sell “did what they could, selling tableware, etc…and other things that are considered necessary for life, selling them from person to person.”
Third, when the crisis ends automotive industries can lead Japan’s recovery by becoming the economy’s number one driver.
Toyoda says total global GDP of $137.5 trillion (9000 trillion yen) dropped by 15 to 20 percent within the last three months.
He says the threat of COVID-19 will be conquered, but “if the current situation continues, the economy in Japan may be exhausted. It may not even be possible to find a way to tackle COVID-19 fully before the economy is in ruin.
“It is our hope as the automotive industry that we can be a part of efforts to prevent this collapse from happening.”
Japan’s automotive industry employs around 5.5 million workers – about 10 percent of the working population.
It influences the total economy profoundly and can have a ripple effect on other industries.
Toyoda says car companies will try to keep operating but currently when cars can’t be sold around the world, production has stopped at some factories.
“If this continues, we may face a situation where some of our friends or partners may not be able to continue operation. However, looking to the future, the underlying technology cannot be lost, and there are people with expertise that no machines can ever copy.”
At the end of the COVID-19 lockdown Toyoda says there will be a need to make our cars “even better and even more wonderful, so that even more people can enjoy moving more than ever.
“As an industry, I believe we have the tenacious DNA that will help us to survive, so we should do all we can to survive.
“When this COVID-19 situation has ended…that will be the time that we would like the automotive industry to be the best engine to revive the economy as soon as possible.
“We should do whatever we need to do, and we’ll do it now.”
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