April 2, 2013
Bloomington, IN—Recently, TASUS CEO Melanie Hart was featured in an article by Automotive News. The article covers the recent tendency of Japanese auto producers beginning to offshore more frequently to the U.S., focusing on the adoption of the “build where you sell” type of business. She is quoted as explaining that “A lot of auto industry product that was made in Japan in the past is now being made in North America for the North American market,” says Melanie Hart, CEO of Tsuchiya North America. She adds, “Twenty years ago, when I first took this job, a lot of people thought that a global economy was a bad thing for the U.S. economy. I used to make a point of telling audiences that it wasn’t a bad thing. Sure, it hurt for a while, but that’s because we weren’t the best at what we did. But look at where we are today, we’re more competitive. We’re better at what we do….it has translated to growth for North America.” This reversal in location of manufacture has created a boom in job opportunities within the U.S. automotive industry. Today, Japanese automakers now supply jobs to over 67,590 North Americans, a number that is rapidly growing along with the number of plants. Among these plants is TASUS’s own in Alabama, which is nearing toward completion by the end of the year.
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