elkarlo

Were they? I'm from MoCo in MD. So I always saw lots of imports. Mitsu was amoung the least common. Out of all th epeople I know, only knew one guy who drove an Eclipse. Also the 2000s was when Nissan made it's comeback, right?

But the 6 was down. Wonder what they are doing at AAI? That plant has got to be half idle.

But that was when they made cars for Crappler, right? Oh and Toyota owns a 16% stake or so in Fuji industries. Subaru is a lot like Mazda, a small quiky Japanese company. So it growing is not out of the question, as it has a low sales volume here in the US.

Not only that, but they have to retool the factories here to build them. The Euro is too expensive to send cars here. So at the best they will take a few years to send cars here. I mean look at the Fiesta. Imagine if Ford did that with all teir cars?

Shame on GM. Our govt helps them out, and they basically walk away from the American people. Screw them, I am going to only bad mouth them as a company fro now on.

Close as I could get http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=567...de=427&mp=9 The reason i say Ford even if they could shouldn't bother with Japan. Is because it has been a declining market for over 10 years, and cars are cheaper and cheaper now. Kei cars are more common, and are under 1L. So I really think it would be unprofitable.

Yeah what are the sales in Taiwan? I have heard that Ford is pretty big in Taiwan. BTW thanks for the sales numbers. Here is why Ford doesn't need to get involved with Japan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNWFHGT8Iq8 this is the new Japan. Jelly thinks the Japan of today, when in fact it died over 15 years ago.

Oh anyone have any news on Mitsubishi? They had like 2,000 sales in the US for August. I have no idea how they are still afloat.

it's been in a recession for almost 20. But the recent crisis is murdering the economy here. So now most workers dont get overtime bonuses, which oversets the fact that most Japanese get paid peanuts. So that has really hit the consumer market here, that already has been stagnat for years. It's been so bad that they don't change you for key money when you get an apartment. Which is essentially a bribe to let them rent the place to you. It is usually 2-3 months of rent. That is dissapearing, and I think car sales are down as well, which is the big purchase here, as no one here really owns their own house.

The Japanese govt is even more broke the than the US govt. Also Toyota has a HUGE market share here in Japan, and Japan is being hit by the recession the hardest here. So they went from full speed ahead, to a grinding halt, and that hurts more. Not to mention that they bought Fuji Industries, and Daihatsu. Who knows how they funded this.

How longI mean FIat is not rolling in the dough themselves, and it will be several years before they can get their cars made in America.

Why are you so fixated and obnoxious? Yes the Suzuki wagon is big seller here. Why? It gets the job done. Most people do not drive far(maybe 15km) and the speed limit here is 50km at the highest, so you don't need a quick cornering car. It would drive you nuts to have a sports car here, stuck behind a 50cc scooter going 30km. Yeah the bigger the car, the higher the shakin(as Austin said) is. So many people try to avoid it, which is why hey buy a small car or they simply don't buy a car at all(most Japanese). Also going to drivers school here is like 300,000yen, so many people simply don't bother. A way around the tax is bikes, under 125cc is tax free, so I never pay taxes on my bike. Here you go http://www.thestreet.com/story/10594618/1/...-4th-month.html You also have to think that many Japanese buy Japanese cars because it helps their country, and they feel their products are the best. Japanese are also the least informed people that have access to the internet.

There are Kei cars, under 1 liter engines. They are terrible, I rented one once, and it could barely get me up a hill. It was a Suzuki wagon. Also you are right, many roads here are pointlessly narrow, and you have to pull over to allow a car to go the other direction. Yes a Civic is a mid sized car here, and there really is no parking. A lot of people just pull over and go into the store, or friend's house. I think that the cars are more narrow here, so even euro cars are wrongly sized.

Ok honestly you are just looking at numbers and not seeing any background. 127mllion people. Yes, but many are quite old and can not drive. Also many people don't have cars. Car ownership is quite low here, especially in cities. So you throwing around 127million car buyers is 100% wrong. I would say it's more like 30-50 million. Yes, stay away from Japan, why? Ford has Mazda there already, and they already have a dealer network. It's very hard to stat a business in Japan as well. Not to mention that is has been in a recession for 20 YEARS! Why get into a declining market? Or ebtter yet why not get Mazda to do it? I think there is a reason why besides just protectionism that the big 3 have stayed away. Ok, I CAN'T read in Japanese, which doesn't mater, as many sites in Japanese are unsearchable. I have NO idea where to find that info. Japan is also protectionist. That is something that all our govts have failed to deal with. Also like in the other thread, they are not my countrymen, I am not Japanese.

It's all over the place. One guy nearby has an old Ford conversion van. I see a fair amount of V70, the wagons that is. I see some Lasers, and a good amount of Mustangs. People view the Japanese brands like Americans did in the 50's/60s, it's the backbone of the country. Look at it this way Toyota is the economy of Nagoya, a fairly sized city, and Mazda for Hiroshima. In fact there is a Toyota city. So they take it seriously. People buy foreign cars for prestiege as they are rare and expensive. Suzuki is selling some GM cars through their network, see some Aveo looking cars here and there. It's skriking also as the population is getting older, which means less new young buyers. Couple that with 20 years of recession, and you have new employees who have littel stability, and can be making as little as 150,000yen a month. So a lot of people can't buy a new car. The whole mall car thing is a joke, and I don't see it gaining any meaningful sales. As they are going after the Gyuru type, which is a fad from the early 90's and is fading. They missed the boat on that one.

Ok, as a resident of Japan, I feel I need to better explain the Japanese market. First of all the Japanese car market is not 127million people. It is far smaller than that. I live herehttp://www.tageo.com/index-e-ja-v-04-d-m335515.htm, and ave lived in the suburbs of Osaka. Now many people in Japan are actually quite old, so you need to reduce the 127m by 22% as that is how many people are over 65, and those people will in all likelihood never buy a acar, in fact their kids wills prolly inherit it. Next factor in public transportation, making it so many dont even need a car. My old host family bought a Toyota Noah minivan last year,replacing their 10 year old car. As most people drive rarely, they get away with a van and a scooter. Like myself, I drive or rather ride a 100cc Isuzu scooter. I dont drive a car. So in Japan car companies have to compete against public trp and scooter, heck even bikes, as I was ok with just a bike for 3 months. Next mini cars, do you realize that many cars here have under 1 liter engines? The profit margin is really thin. Also my friend rented a Mitsu Minica, and it had a 200kg capacity. These are not real cars, and I doubt anyone makes any real money on them. As many people dont drive much (have a friend who lives in Tokyo, he has a 12 year old Toyota crown with 18,000km on it) there is a huge car market here. In fact in my area there are about 3 new car dealerships, and hundreds of used ones. Also factor in that Japan is socially somewhere in the 1960s. So many peopl eare just now considering foreign brands. Plus there is a sense of unity. Hiroshima, I believe half of it's jobs stem from Mazda. Even Mazda has quit the Japanese market they have a less than 6% market shre http://www.mazda.com/publicity/results/200...28_product.html as I believe they tried chasing 50% in the 90s. No real point now as the market is decreasing and many are buying smaller/cheaper. Dealerships here are also old, and possibly from a time before American cars were here. Also most dealers/mechanic shops seem to be Suzuki. I see a decent amount of Fords/Volvos here as well. I think people import them quite a bit. Also please ask me Qs.

Ok I am going to make a new thread. BTW I am not Japanese.

Stop it already, the Japanese car market is terrible, and it's better that Ford stays away. If I could read a annual report, I would be a better guy to explain this to you.

Wow the Fusion and FOcus sales make Ford on par with Honda as a car company. I guess Ford is no longer dependent on Trucks/SUVs?

I think the best part is keeping a stake. No real risk, but with some decent rewards, and perhaps discounts on patents. I hope they can make Volvo into Euro/China Mazda.

Ok, I'll do it tomorrow, it's 13:30AM here @_@ and I will see what ideas I can put together.

It's quit Limited. I have seen 2 dealerships in total 2 years of living here. I think I just make a thread about the car industry in Japan here. What do you guys think? I can give you an insiders viewpoint. Though I rarely drive, as I use a Scooter, i still have dealt with a lot of nonsense here involving cars.

I drove a 240DL Volvo in HS, I would get super easily in the snow. I got stuck at the school parkinglot, when even other people could get out, I'd try again and still be stuck

It's the fact that California is very Left Coast.

I think Mazda can make some decent slow growth. 5k sales of the 6 was what they were doing for a good while. I guess they got greedy. They tried to tke over the Japanese market, and it kicked their @$$es I think 250k sales a year in America is a decent goal. Heck they are lot like Subaru size and niche wise.