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Weaker Yen Poses Threat to GM
The depreciation of Japan's currency is a "real threat" to General Motors Co., although it has not yet hurt the company's sales, says Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.
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The depreciation of Japan's currency is a "real threat" to General Motors Co., although it has not yet hurt the company's sales, says Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.
The yen has weakened 20% against the U.S. currency in the past six months to about 97.5 per dollar on Tuesday.
Reuss is the latest in a series of U.S. auto executives to voice concerns about the deteriorating value of the yen. GM CEO Dan Akerson complained last week that the Bank of Japan is manipulating the country's currency to give domestic carmakers and other exporters an unfair market advantage.
The current situation is a rapid reversal of the scenario in recent years as the yen appreciated. Last August the currency soared to the highest level against the dollar since World War II.
The profits of Japan's carmakers suffered for several years because the strong yen made vehicles they built at home expensive to sell overseas and sapped the value of repatriated profits. Japanese auto executives say the yen still remains high by historical standards.
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