U.S. Companies Edge Out Japan in Vehicle Production

For the first time in 15 years, auto makers built more cars, trucks and minivans in the United States than in Japan, according to estimates released Wednesday by Ward’s Automotive Reports.

The Detroit-based trade publication said U.S. auto output totaled 12.2 million units in 1994, up from 10.9 million in 1993. That compares with an estimated 11 million vehicles built in Japan this year.

Experts attribute the turnaround to the growing popularity of domestic vehicles, particularly trucks, and increased auto output from so-called Japanese transplant factories here.

“Clearly the auto industry is booming, and the transplants are building a lot more vehicles here than before,” one analyst said. “The Big Three are also cranking out the trucks.”

Japanese car companies have been shifting production to the United States to offset the effects of the slumping dollar against the Japanese yen.

The move has allowed Japanese car makers to increase their share of the U.S. vehicle market slightly through the first 11 months of the year, to 23.3% from 23.1% a year ago, as transplant factories were able to maintain production while several Big Three plants were shut down for model changeovers.

In 1994, Ward’s estimated, Japanese transplant factories will account for about 17.3% of all vehicles built in the United States, Canada and Mexico, up from 16% in 1992.

The shift is likely to continue for several years as Japanese companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. expand their presence in North America, and European car makers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW establish a beachhead in the United States.

Honda has already announced plans to build an additional 110,000 cars at plants in Ohio and Ontario.

Toyota recently announced it will stop shipping compact pickup trucks to the United States from Japan and instead will build them at a joint-venture factory with General Motors Corp. in California.

Nissan Motor Co. plans to start shipping about 2,000 Nissan Sentra cars from Mexico next year, eliminating the need for more costly exports from Japan.

Analysts expect U.S. car and truck sales to rise about 9% this year to about 15.4 million vehicles. Ward’s estimated the shift to North American factories pushed total output in the United States, Mexico and Canada to a record 15.75 million vehicles, with trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles accounting for a record 47.3% of total sales. In 1992, North American output totaled 12.8 million vehicles, 41.6% of them trucks.