Surrounded by dozens of cardboard boxes packed with 4 million petition signatures, the presidents of major Japanese automakers demanded Monday the end of what they called exorbitant taxes on cars that threaten to hollow out manufacturing and wipe out jobs. The plea from the heads of Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. as well as representatives from auto unions and dealers — a rare show of combined forces — underlines the industry's crisis from the March tsunami disaster, the surging yen and stagnant sales.
"This goes beyond the problem of a hollowing out of the economy. The industry could be destroyed," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said after standing with other officials with clenched fists. "Once jobs are lost overseas, it is impossible to recover them."
Read Article