Reuters (Tokyo) - Suzuki Motor Corp said on Monday it would spend about 50 billion yen ($620 million) to move some of its domestic development and production facilities to new locations in Japan for protection against big earthquakes and tsunamis.
Japan's fourth-biggest automaker will purchase two blocks of land in an industrial park in Hamamatsu city, in central Japan, one for research and development and the other for production of motorcycle engine parts and next-generation vehicles, it said in a statement. Operations at the new facilities are set to begin in August 2016 and May 2017, respectively.
The news follows CEO Osamu Suzuki's warning last month that the Hamamatsu-based automaker would have to spread out some of its domestic facilities because they were all concentrated in the central Tokai region of Japan, long seen at high risk of being hit by a massive earthquake.
A spokesman said that, while the new facilities will be in Hamamatsu, they will be about 15 km from the coast and on more solid ground. Its motorcycle research centre is currently about 200 to 300 metres from the shoreline.
