Though one might think the potential demise of major competitors would be good for Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda, the Associated Press reports that the opposite is true:
Even as General Motors and the entire U.S. auto industry teeter on the edge of collapse, its major rivals are hardly celebrating. Toyota and other Japanese carmakers say the bankruptcy of any of Detroit’s Big Three would spell serious trouble for them as well.
Should that happen, “the damage to our business is certain to be tremendous,” Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Hideaki Homma told The Associated Press Monday. “The conditions for the U.S. auto market are extremely tough right now, and any additional negative is sure to make things worse.”
One major problem is that Japanese carmakers in the U.S. share many of the same parts suppliers. If a Detroit automaker were to collapse, suppliers would likely follow, setting off a chain reaction that could would wreak havoc for Japanese production in the U.S., a vital market.
This is in addition to the reduced demand for cars that would follow the loss of millions of jobs throughout the economy, not only in auto suppliers and ancillary services but in unrelated industries as consumer spending decreases.
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