Japan Auto Parts Makers Look Ahead to Electric Cars

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/business/global/03japancar.html?hpw

The people here refer to it as “electric vehicle shock.†Sooner or — more likely — later, the electric car could render thousands of companies superfluous here in the heart of the Japanese auto parts region. No more engines. No call for exhaust pipes. Spark plugs? Gone with the electric-car wind. Or so, in essence, warns a recent widely circulated study that predicts the eventual demise of much of Hamamatsu’s gasoline engine economy. Reacting to that study and to a general sense of foreboding, carmakers, parts factories and local governments in this sprawling industrial town are joining forces to prepare for a future of electric vehicles. Suzuki Motor, based in Hamamatsu, helped found a regionwide alliance in October that will help parts makers develop new automotive technologies for electric cars and even for other industries.