Factories Japan

The Bridgestone tire scandal isn't the half of it. A series of defects, product recalls, poisonings and quality lapses at some of Japan's best-known companies in recent months are outward signs of a seismic shift taking place deep within the economy. Hanging in the balance is Japan's ability to compete effectively in the 21st century.

The Bridgestone tire scandal isn't the half of it. A series of defects, product recalls, poisonings and quality lapses at some of Japan's best-known companies in recent months are outward signs of a seismic shift taking place deep within the economy. Hanging in the balance is Japan's ability to compete effectively in the 21st century.

Honda Close to Forming Motorcycle Pact: Honda Motor Co. expects to reach an agreement to build its first motorcycle factory in Vietnam soon, Honda spokesman Masaya Nagai said. Honda, the world's largest motorcycle maker, and its proposed partner, Vietnam Engines & Agricultural Machines Corp., would build 100cc motorcycles at a joint-venture factory. Initially, production would probably be in the tens of thousands, with output probably exceeding 100,000 units a year in the future, Nagai said.

Panasonic Broadcast & Digital Systems is moving a new headquarters into a building on Cahuenga Boulevard near Universal Studios, gratifying boosters of Los Angeles as the new "digital coast" to rival Silicon Valley. The company, a unit of Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems, has been based in Secausus, N.J., but is establishing a second headquarters in L.A., said Dan Margolis, spokesman for Mayor Richard Riordan. The company already has a small sales and service office in L.A.

* Sony Corp. plans to unveil next week a sweeping restructuring that will eliminate 1,500 to 2,000 jobs worldwide and shut two television factories in Japan, a company source said. * CNF Inc., the Palo Alto, Calif.-based owner of the largest U.S. regional trucking company, said profit declined 24% in the third quarter as losses widened at its air-freight unit. Net income fell to $26.8 million, or 46 cents a share, from $35.5 million, or 61 cents, in the same quarter a year ago. Sales rose 6.

Taxpayers bailed out much of the U.S. auto industry. Now the carmakers might be what saves the nation's economy from falling back into recession. After a massive restructuring and several high-profile bankruptcies, a leaner, more aggressive auto industry is making a comeback, hiring workers and ramping up manufacturing plants. From a trough two years ago, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Chrysler Group and other auto companies have added almost 90,000 manufacturing jobs, a 14% increase, according to federal employment data.

THE NAME CHANGE: HBO/Cannon Home Video, once known as Thorn/EMI/HBO Home Video, is now simply HBO Video, as the cable company has bought out Cannon's shares. THE PRICE CHANGE: The recent application of 100% tariff hikes on some Japanese-made appliances, such as television sets with screens 20 inches or under, does not apply to VCRs or compact disc players. Nor does it affect televisions or other equipment basically assembled in factories outside Japan for the U.S.

Japan's vehicle exports in 1994 plunged to the lowest level in 17 years, hit by appreciation of the yen and growing production at the overseas plants of Japanese auto makers, officials said Monday. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Assn. said vehicle exports fell 11.1% from a year earlier to 4.46 million in calendar 1994, the ninth-straight year of decline.

French auto maker Renault said Tuesday that it will build Renault-badged cars at new partner Nissan Motor Co.'s underused factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to boost its Mexican sales and cut each company's costs. Renault, which said Saturday that it would invest $5.4 billion in Nissan, sees no need to close any of its existing factories, Chief Executive Louis Schweitzer told reporters in New York.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Thursday that it plans to cut 1,000 jobs at its U.S. sales and manufacturing operations, including about 230 in Cypress, during the next two years in an effort to restore profitability. The Japanese auto maker said it will eliminate about 700 jobs at its 4,200-employee manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill. The sales operation in Cypress employs about 1,100 people. Together, the job cuts amount to 19% of Mitsubishi's U.S. work force.