Is anti-Japanese hostility in China a problem?
We’re very conscious of this, but it’s not actually [a big problem] on the retail scene. As long as you offer good products, Chinese [will buy] Japanese products. The only area where we might [suffer] a little bit is when it comes to city government or state government purchases. They’d rather choose other brands than Japanese, but that’s a very minor part of our business. Nevertheless, we’re very careful about what we say and how we say it in terms of PR and advertising. We have to be 100% sure we don’t stimulate any anti-Japanese sentiment. How about the luxury sector? Can the Lexus do well in China? There’s tremendous potential for the Lexus. The rich [in China] are very rich and often younger guys. There’s a lot of room for us to grow in the luxury segment. China is the only country where we’re offering a product lineup as big as in the United States. We’re offering everything that’s available. But is Lexus brand recognition a problem? Recognition with the wider public is very low,
