Auto-related employment in Japan now totals 5.45 million people out of a workforce of 62.6 million.
The Japanese Automobile manufacturers Association confirmed today what was already widely known. Motor vehicle production in 2011 in Japan decreased for the first time in two years, totaling 8.40 million units because of the earthquake and resulting tsunami. This was a decrease of 12.8% from the 2010, according to JAMA. The Association did provide some new information about the large economic impact vehicle manufacturing has on the Japanese economy.
Passenger car production fell 13.9% to total of 7.16 million units. Within that category, standard car production dropped 13.7% to 4.18 million units, small car production slipped 13.8% to 1.86 million units, and minicar production dipped 14.4% to 1.12 million units. Truck and bus production also showed a decline from 2011, shrinking 6.0% to 1.14 million units and 4.8% to 104,000 units, respectively.
At the end of 2011, motor vehicles in use in Japan (excluding motorcycles) totaled 75.5 million units, a 0.2% increase over the previous year.
Auto-related employment in Japan at present totals 5.45 million people out of a workforce of 62.6 million. Automobiles, of course, are the focus of an extremely wide range of industrial and related activity, from materials supply and vehicle production to sales, servicing, shipping and other auto-centered operations.
The automotive industry is one of the Japanese economy’s core industrial sectors. In 2010 automotive shipments accounted for 16.4% of the total value of Japan’s manufacturing shipments, and 36.6% of the value of the machinery industries’ combined shipments. Automotive shipments – both domestic and export shipments, including motorcycles and auto parts, totaled ¥47.3 trillion in 2010, up 16.8% from the previous year.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
