Shift to electric cars speeds restructuring of parts industry

TOKYO — The rapid advance of motor vehicle electrification is spurring parts makers to transform their own operations.

Nachi-Fujikoshi, a big Japanese manufacturer of automotive bearings, will move production of general-purpose bearings from Toyama, Japan, and Taiwan to Thailand in response to falling demand for conventional automotive parts.

Nachi-Fujikoshi will build a new 10 billion yen ($80.74 million) factory near its existing plant in Thailand’s central Rayong Province. It will transfer production of general-purpose bearings to the new facility, which is slated to go online in February 2022.

The move is aimed at cutting production costs for commodity bearings. The company will use the money saved to win new customers among makers of machine tools and nonautomotive products.

The production shift to Thailand is expected to cost around 200 jobs at the Toyama plant, including contract…