Carmakers aim to help suppliers as materials prices surge
Automakers absorb costs in departure from deflation playbook
39;Supplier sustainability is our sustainability39; Nissan COO
Inflation disruption comes in wake of COVID supply chain woes

TOKYO, June 15 Reuters For decades, Japan39;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 hardhit parts makers, executives say.

The measures show how automakers are attempting to shore up already strained supply chains, wracked by COVID19 pandemic lockdowns and a global shortage of semiconductors, even at the cost of lower profit margins for themselves. The piecemeal support being negotiated across Japan39;s auto industry also highlights the potential disruption from the dramatic weakening of the yen, now at its lowest in two decades.

Japanese automakers, historically beneficiaries of a weaker currency through sales overseas, are now focused on managing the threat to suppliers. For many parts makers, the weaker yen compounds the pain of higher input costs for materials.

Inflation is happening and definitely we have to address it, Nissan Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta told reporters recently. We are discussing with our…