As Yen Tumbles, Japan’s Automakers Take Cost Burden Off Their Suppliers

As Yen Tumbles, Japan’s Automakers Take Cost Burden Off Their Suppliers
Employees of Toyota Motor Corp. work on an assembly line at the company's Motomachi plant in Toyota, Aichi prefecture, Japan, on May 17, 2018. Issei Kato/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

TOKYO—For decades, Japan’s powerful automakers had a playbook to deal with deflation: press suppliers for lower prices on everything from seat belts to wire harnesses and promise volume.

Now, with inflation biting around the world, Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Corp., and others are shouldering more of the burden of soaring raw materials prices, or extending other help to hard-hit parts makers, executives say.