国内専従拠点から輸出拠点への脱皮

豪州・タイにおける日系自動車メーカーの取り組み

抄録

Both in Australia and in Thailand, Japanese automobile assemblers have been manufacturing automobiles for more than 30 years, but they had never thought of exporting vehicles from their subsidiaries. Facing hard conditions, however, (Australia: sudden change of its industrial policy in the middle of 1980s, Thailand: sudden shrinking of the market in 1997), Japanese auto assemblers started to try to change over their local subsidiaries from import-substituting plants to export-oriented ones. Many existing researches argue that it is very hard for import-substituting plants to change into export plants. But in the present case, facing harsh conditions, the Japanese firms are managing to do it.

In order to transform them to export plant, they first had to attain the higher quality standards requested in oversea markets. To overcome this problem, they had to revise their worker's quality consciousness through continuous training. At the same time, improved quality inspection was necessary. Once intensive training and inspection took place, quality standards got stricter. But if engineer get complacent, conditions soon revert back to their original state.

Second, firms had to overcome the inferior image held abroad of their country's automobile. To overcome this problem, they had to establish good relationships with importers, taking full quality responsibility for their products. So starting to export from the subsidiary to countries other than Japan shows centralization approaching its limit.

Perhaps this implication can apply not only to the automobile industry but also other industries.