How should the competitiveness of a key industry that underpins the Japanese economy be maintained and its structural transformation be advanced? Reinforcing cooperation among the industrial, academic and public sectors will hold the key to these challenges.
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has established a public-private commission to deliberate next-generation strategies for the automotive industry.
The commission's aim is to work out policies for propelling technological innovation in electric vehicles (EVs), fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) and other electric-powered vehicles and for winning out in international competition. The commission's report, which it will compile this summer, will be reflected in the government's growth strategy.
The automobile industry has entered a phase of innovation -- considered a "once-in-a-century" change -- as seen in such developments as the shift to autonomous driving and electric-powered vehicles.
The establishment of the public-private commission that focuses on promoting the development of EVs and FCVs as its core themes is well-timed.
At the Beijing Motor Show, automakers have displayed their latest EV models. The battle for survival in the automobile market in China, which will launch promotional measures for EVs and the like starting in 2019, could redraw the power structure among automakers.
Japanese automakers, which have been highly competitive in gasoline-powered vehicles and have also had an advantage over their rivals in the development of batteries mounted on EVs, should lead the market for next-generation electric-powered vehicles.
Help related companies adapt
In the development of batteries, the rise of Chinese companies is remarkable. China has also enhanced its presence in the supply of such elements as rare-earth metals, indispensable for the production of batteries and motors.
It is hoped that the public-private commission will expand constructive discussions on such topics as the sharing of technologies and the review of the legal system, by going beyond the framework of a single enterprise or industry.
It is a cause for concern that automobile-related industries will be pressed to make major changes in keeping with the spread of electric-powered vehicles.
Five million people work in the automobile industry, equivalent to about 10 percent of domestic employment. The value of shipments reaches 50 trillion yen, with the value of exports accounting for more than 20 percent of the total.
There are about 30,000 parts and components of gasoline-driven vehicles and the like, but the number drops as far down as 10,000 when it comes to EVs.
Automobiles have been manufactured with major automakers at the top and a wide range of companies assuming such roles as supplying parts to them. The impact caused by the drop in the number of parts and components as a result of the spread of electric-powered vehicles will not be small. In particular, it will be a serious blow to company towns that have many subcontractors.
It will also be inevitable for relevant industries such as gas station operators and auto repair shops to drastically review their management styles.
Also important is policy support to overcome major changes in the market. The government must work out measures to promote structural changes in these industries, with the aim of spreading next-generation vehicles and self-driving vehicles.
It is necessary to accelerate such measures as the deregulation that will back up the development of battery-charging facilities for EVs and hydrogen stations for FCVs, and the improvement of the legal system with an eye toward the realization of autonomous driving.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 29, 2018)
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