Honda halts Russia exports, Japan rivals to follow

STORY: Japan’s big firms may be starting to join the corporate exodus from Russia.

Honda said Wednesday (March 2) that it had suspended exports to the country.

The carmaker said that was due to difficulty shipping vehicles and making payments amid sanctions.

Now its Japanese rivals are expected to follow suit.

The Nikkei newspaper says Mazda also plans to suspend shipments.

Nissan said it was monitoring the situation in Russia very closely.

And Mitsubishi said it could suspend production and sale of cars there.

That leaves the focus on the world’s biggest automaker - Toyota.

It says business in the country is continuing as normal, though there had been some disruption to shipments.

Japanese firms have been very muted in their response to the crisis in Ukraine, compared to U.S and European rivals.

Ford and other global automakers had already said they planned to suspend operations.

Pressure on the Japanese firms is only likely to mount.