Japanese automobile industry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japan is the world's second largest automobile manufacturer and exporter, after the United States. Japan has six of the world's ten largest automobile manufacturers.

1 History
- 1.1 1900s to 1950s
- 1.2 1960s to Today
2 Timeline of the Japanese car industry
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

[edit] 1900s to 1950s

Japanese zaibatsu (see below) began building their first automobiles in the middle to late 1910s. The companies went about this by either designing their own trucks (the market for passenger vehicles in Japan at the time was small), or partnering with a European brand to produce and sell their cars in Japan under license. Such examples of this are Isuzu partnering with Wolseley Motor Company (UK), and the Mitsubishi Model A, which was based off of the Fiat Tipo 3. The demand for domestic trucks was greatly increased by the Japanese buildup to war before World War II, and thus caused many Japanese manufacturers to break out of their shells and design their own vehicles.

During the Korean War (1950-1953), the United States government commissioned Japanese automobile manufacturers to produce army trucks. This was advantageous due to Japan's proximity to Korea, and the USA had close ties to Japan because the country was still under United States occupation since the end of World War II. These army truck commissions led to enormous growth in Japan's auto industry, leading to the boom of Japanese cars during the 1960s.

From its beginnings, nearly all of the Japanese automakers were associated with zaibatsu, or later keiretsu - Japanese business conglomerates. In the post-war period, these large companies had close ties with the government, who urged them to absorb all of the smaller carmakers into large brands that could be marketed internationally. Nissan (Datsun at the time) was a prime example, taking control of Prince and many other smaller companies to form a large brand. Mitsubishi Motors was a part of a large keiretsu as well. However, one of the lone exceptions of the time was Honda. The company was formed as a tiny firm, and had (and still has) experienced no major takeovers or mergers.

During the massive expansion of many Japanese companies after WWII, many of the automakers sought to expand into other markets, mainly the US. In 1957, the first Japanese car to be imported to the United States was the Toyota Crown, followed by the 1958 Datsun 1000(PL210).

[edit] 1960s to Today

During the 1960s, Japanese automakers launched a bevy of new keicars in their domestic market. These tiny automobiles usually featured very small engines (from 360cc to 600cc) to keep taxes much lower than larger cars. The average person in Japan was now able to afford an automobile, which boosted sales dramatically and jumpstarted the auto industry toward becoming what it is today. The first of this new era, actually launched in 1958, was the Subaru 360. It was known as the "Lady Beetle", comparing it's significance to the Volkswagen Beetle in Germany. Other significant models were the Mitsubishi 500, Mazda Carol, and the Honda N360.

Rapidly increasing domestic demand and the expansion of Japanese car companies into foreign markets in the 1970s further accelerated growth. Automobile production in Japan continued to increase rapidly after the 1970s, as Mitsubishi (as Dodge vehicles) and Honda began selling their vehicles in the US. Even more brands came to America and abroad during the 1970s, and by the 1980s, the Japanese manufacturers were gaining a major foothold in the US and world markets.

With Japanese manufacturers producing very affordable, reliable, and popular cars throughout the 1990s, Japan became the largest car producing nation in the world in 2000. However, its market share has decreased slightly in recent years, mainly due to new competition from China and India and a shift in the focus of Japanese government policies. Industry speculators have predicted, however, that by 2007 or 2008, Toyota will become the largest automaker in the world, surpassing American General Motors by producing upwards of 9.4 million vehicles. ^[1]