Toyota, GM meet amid US-backlash worries

The heads of Toyota Motor Corp and General Motors Corp (GM) will meet in Tokyo to discuss technological research and plans for jointly operated factories in the US, news reports said yesterday, amid worries of a US backlash over the huge success of Japanese automakers.

Kyodo news agency reported that Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe and General Motors chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner were to meet yesterday in Tokyo in their first meeting since Watanabe took office as head of Japan's biggest automaker. The national daily Yomiuri Shimbun carried a similar report.

Spokeswomen from the two companies declined to confirm the reports.

Wagoner is stopping by Japan on his way back from China, and he usually meets officials at Japanese alliance partners -- truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd and Suzuki Motor Corp which makes small cars, as well as with Toyota officials during his Japan visits, said Masako Hamada, spokeswoman for General Motors in Tokyo.

Kyodo said Watanabe and Wagoner were expected to discuss continuing joint research on technologies such as fuel cell and future plans for US factories the two companies hope to operate together, without citing sources.

The report comes at a time when some Japanese auto executives are worried about intensifying trade friction as Japanese automakers grab more market share from struggling US automakers. Officials at Toyota, which is expected to report strong earnings tomorrow, have been nervous about a possible backlash in the US as Toyota's profits grow and GM loses money.

US auto sales fell sharply last month, dampened by hurricanes, fidgety consumers and high gas prices. Demand was down after a summer of heavily hyped discounts and automakers warned that they don't expect an upswing this month.

General Motors, Ford and Nissan reported big declines yesterday, while Toyota and Honda edged up and DaimlerChrysler's sales were flat.

GM has recently accused the Japanese government of unfair currency manipulation to keep the yen weak and give a pricing edge to Japanese automakers in the US.

Detroit-based GM and Toyota signed an agreement in 1999 to work together on ecological technology and the executives meet often.

Toyota and GM run a car assembly plant together in California. Toyota executive vice president Akio Toyoda said recently that no change is expected in their 50-50 joint venture.

Last month, GM said it was ending its alliance with Japanese automaker Fuji Heavy Industries by selling its entire 20 percent stake in the maker of Subaru cars.

Toyota said it was buying an 8.7 percent stake in Fuji from GM for about US$315 million, a move that some say is aimed at helping GM during hard times -- but GM denies.