During the 1970′s and 1980′s everyone (mainly, the United States) thought that Japan would rule the world, economically speaking. At its peak, the Nikkei Dow stood at 38,957.44. Brands like “Zenith” and “RCA” made way for new brands like “Sony” and “Panasonic”. General Motors feared Japanese cars so much, they set up “Saturn” to fight them off. The UK government flirted with Toyota, Honda and Nissan to build their factories in the UK. Yep, the Japanese were the original rising dragon. Then came the 1990′s, and it all imploded. Since then, Japan was never quite the same. They were still strong, but manageable. While Japan got cut down to size, their car industry stayed strong. They still carried on taking market share in North America away from the domestics. Despite the Japanese prospering in North America, it wasn’t reciprocal. American car makers, and, indeed, many of our B&B, believe that Japan has a closed car market and has tariffs on imported cars. Our resident German has talked about the subject many times and successfully managed not to have an aneurysm over it (though he may have turned to drink) [ED: He did not.] Well, if Japan does have a closed car market, nobody told Ford.
The Associated Press (via Google News) reports that Ford is feeling bullish about their prospects of cracking the Japanese market. They believe that their investments in Asia will boost sales in the Land of the Rising Sun. Tim Tucker, Chief Executive of Ford Japan, said “We know we are going to grow our business”. Bold words for a company famous for Bold Moves, but don’t be fooled. Mr Tucker only took the Japan job last month. Previously, he headed up Ford India. A division which sold 30,000 units last year and expects to sell 130,000 units this year. That’s impressive growth. Last year, Ford Japan only sold 2,200 units in a market of 3 million vehicles. So Mr Tucker has a lot of work to do. So how will they go about it?
Ford Japan plans to introduce five new models to the Japanese market in 2012. One of the cars is the Ford Kuga, a small CUV based off the Ford C1 platform. Mr Tucker unveiled it a Tokyo event. But more interestingly, it seems Ford is going to attack the Japanese in a way which they might consider as – uncomforting. When asked about Ford Japan’s possible hybrid roll out, Mr Tucker replied: “All I can say is wait….You will be pleasantly surprised.” Americans trying to steal hybrid customers in Japan from Japan companies? Well, I suppose it’s revenge for all those Japanese companies trying to steal truck customers from American companies, chicken tax be damned.
13 Comments on “Ford Japan: Not Just There For Fun...”
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I don’t know much about Japan, spent less than two months there. Everybody (in Osaka) seemed to be driving small and slow cars that felt like made of cardboard. Those driving luxury or sporty cars were either rich seniors or, as I suspect, yakuza thugs. So I’d say Ford has better chances selling Mustangs there (I heard Japanese youth love American pony cars) than trying to out-hybrid the domestics or simply introduce their EU market cars.
The microcar market (kei-cars) is japanese only… But everything else is hugely mixed. Lexus japan being around 5 years old only, Mercedes Audi and Bmw are on top for luxury brand. The biggest importer being VW. All french brand are officially imported, even if Renault stay under the shadow of Nissan for corporate-ish reason. The amrican brands seems ro have completely missed this market for no good reason…
Pretty much, but the Smart Fortwo is also sold there and qualifies as a kei car.
Cammy…
I hope they don’t try the Fiesta!
When I test drove it with the Ford dealer manager a few days ago, it was stupid slow!
The back seat is ridiculous, the car vibrated horribly and storage was Hobbit small.
If you have any knowledge of the Kuga coming to America, please let us in on it.
I am holding out for the new Focus…or perhaps the Kuga.
TrailerTrash,
Seems like you got your wish. The Louisville plant is tooling up for the Kuga and Escape.
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2010/07/05/daily13.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Also, if you’re looking forward to Euro Fords coming to the United States, you might want to read this first…
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/butt-of-motoring-humour-on-top-of-which-car%E2%80%9D-survey-2010/
TT – Out of the entire Ford lineup the Fiesta seems the best suited for Japanese tastes – small, efficient, and full of technology.
You are right in that the back seat is fairly useless, and that there isn’t much cargo space, but that’s true of most cars in that class. The vibration isn’t something I’ve felt in any of the ones I’ve driven, so maybe the one you took out had an alignment problem. As far as speed, everything in that class is kind of slow, and the Fiesta is definitely at or near the top of the pile where quickness is concerned. It sounds like you just aren’t a good candidate for a subcompact car.
So American Euro-Ford fans are going to get the Transit Connect, Kuga, Fiesta, Focus, and something close to the Mondeo? That’s great for them.
Meanwhile, American fans of Ford Australia have a roughly 0% chance of ever being happy.
NulloModo
You’re probably right.
The only one I have driven from this class is the Fit…but don’t remember it being this over worked.
It has been a long time, so I can’t really remember.
It seems as large(r) as the Mini, and that doesn’t feel slow.
Maybe’cause of the weight difference???
I was just hoping for better after all the praise.
And I thought this new transmission was supposed to awe me.
It seems a waste in this car.
These are just city cars.
That’s not a bad thing.
They just don’t cut it here in the hills.
I guess I must have a different threshold for considering a back seat “useless.” I sat in the back seat of a Fiesta (sedan, as they didn’t have the hatchback yet) and found it reasonably comfortable. (I’m 5’10″.) I could certainly take some coworkers to lunch in the car. Or is the back seat of the hatchback more cramped (which would be the opposite of what I would expect)?
Jeremy –
It probably depends on how far back the front seat(s) are. I’m comfortable in the driver’s seat of a Fiesta with the back seat back all the way and a good bit of recline, which leaves about an inch of legroom for whoever is behind me.
“At its peak, the Nikkei Dow stood at 38,957.44.”
The Nikkei 225 is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange calculated daily by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) newspaper. It was known as the “Nikkei Dow Jones Stock Average” from 1975 to 1985.
The Nikkei average hit its all-time high on December 29, 1989, when it reached an intra-day high of 38,957.44 before closing at 38,915.87.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikkei_225
Friday, 24 July, 2010 it closed at 9430.96.
A twenty year downhill toboggan ride. Coming soon to a country near you.
I’m kinda surprised that the Fiesta isn’t sold in Japan. Right now Ford just sells trucks and Mustangs (yes MUSTANGS) in Japan. They’ve already got a micro site up for the Kuga..
http://www.ford.co.jp/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1248880071202&pagename=Page&c=DFYPage&site=FJP
The Kuga and Fiesta are no brainers. Both already have right hand steering.
I’d really like to see them sell that here instead of the Escape. We’ll be considering a replacement for our 201,500 mile CR-V eventually and I’d look at a Ford like that. Manual tranny please…