Mr. Kintaro Ueno
Happy New Year!
At the beginning of the year 2024, I would like to extend my heartfelt New Year’s greetings.
First, I would like to congratulate you for having a healthy new year.
As the momentum toward achieving carbon neutrality increases, JAIA member companies are offering Japanese customers a wide variety of imported cars from around the world, including electrified cars, equipped with cutting-edge safety and environmental technologies. At the same time, they are taking on the challenge of solving new issues that arise with the development of technology.
This year as well, JAIA will continue to support the business activities of member companies and work to contribute to the sustainable development of the Japanese motor vehicle market. Specifically, we will promote the activities in five pillars of: (1) market revitalization; (2) environment and energy; (3) international harmonization of safety regulations and certification systems; (4) automobile fair trade and after-sales; and, (5) motorcycles.
In particular, in the area of electrification last year, the government provided continuous subsidies to promote the introduction of clean energy vehicles, and each member company expanded its lineup of EVs and PHEVs, etc. We have been aiming to sell over 20,000 units of imported xEVs. Mobility shows including the Japan Mobility Show were held in various places for the first time in four years since the corona pandemic. Also, JAIA held a PR event in Kobe that was open to the public and aimed at raising awareness and promoting the spread of xEVs.
Meanwhile, the penetration rate of xEVs in Japan still has room to grow compared to other countries. We will continue to make requests to the government, etc. to continuously grant subsidies for xEVs, further expand charging infrastructure, and solve technical problems.
Especially regarding charging infrastructure, we believe that it is necessary to quantitatively and qualitatively expand basic charging, en-route charging, and destination charging to shorten charging time and increase convenience for users. In particular, it is a must to further improve the charging conditions by deregulating regulations for higher output, for example, Japan’s unique voltage restrictions of 450V and 750V.
Furthermore, important issues include international harmonization of various regulations and certification systems related to vehicles, further streamlining and greater efficiency of application procedures, and creating conditions to solve the problem of a shortage of human resources for car maintenance.
Bearing in mind the government’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, JAIA will continue to strengthen cooperation with the central and local governments, related parties, and all auto-related organizations. At the same time, we will do our utmost to revitalize the Japanese motor vehicle market to contribute to the development of a sustainable mobility society in Japan by delivering imported cars with various appeals to Japanese customers.
We would like to ask for your continued understanding and cooperation with JAIA’s activities in 2024 as well, and we sincerely hope that everyone will have a healthy and fruitful New Year.
