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Automakers Would Have to Import Hybrid Parts September 2004If Toyota begins producing hybrids in North America, it will have to import critical parts from Japan because no domestic suppliers exist for the gearing systems and battery packs that power the gas/electric vehicles."The numbers just aren't there yet" for a Japanese company to justify building a U.S. plant to supply the components, said Dan Benjamin, an analyst with ABI Research in Oyster Bay, N.Y. Experts don't know exactly how many systems a company would have to build to justify such a plant, but they say it's probably much higher than what Toyota would produce locally. Right now, the only company producing hybrids in the United States is Ford, which builds the Escape hybrid in Ohio. Ford imports the battery packs and other components from Japan. Ford's system is similar to Toyota's, so a company could conceivably supply both of them, Benjamin said. Also, Nissan plans a hybrid Altima by 2006 using Toyota's system, creating another potential customer in Tennessee or Mississippi, the two states where Nissan builds the sedans. Still, the numbers would probably be too low. Brett Smith, director of product and technology forecasting at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said with some electronic components, suppliers need to build millions of units in each plant, making exporting cheaper than building U.S. factories. Because industry watchers have little experience with hybrid electronics, he said it is hard to predict when it will be cheaper to build locally instead of shipping. But Benjamin and Smith agreed that automakers should have no problems in importing the parts. "Toyota's done it before, as you people in Kentucky should know," Smith said. "They're used to long supply chains." SOURCE: Courier-Journal | ||
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