New Trend In Japan: Japanese Imports
In January, car imports to Japan shot up 53 percent, reports Automotive News’ [sub]Asia Editor Hans Greimel from Tokyo. Quick, who do you think takes top honors?
It’s Nissan. Nissan is riding a wave of March (elsewhere known as Micra) cars. They used to be made in Japan, now they are made in Thailand and brought to Japan. We have been following this trend for a while.
For years, Volkswagen used to be the top import brand in Japan. In January, Nissan beat them according to data released by the Japan Automotive Dealer Association. Nissan imported 3,500 cars in January, the Volkswagen brand imported on 2,758 cars.
Together with Audi, the Volkswagen Group can still claim the title largest importer with a total of 4,154 units. Nevertheless, the Nissan number is remarkable. Of the 35,771 passenger vehicles Nissan sold in January, 10 percent were their own imports from abroad.
Other Japanese manufacturers follow suit on a smaller scale. Toyota imported 956 units from abroad, mostly trucks from Indonesia.
“But,” says Automotive News, “Toyota still sold more imports in Japan than Ford, Cadillac, Jeep, Chevrolet, Chrysler and Dodge combined.” (In case you want the gruesome numbers, here they are: Ford 218, Cadillac 84, Jeep 73, Chevrolet 187, Chrysler 0, Dodge 46.)
Greimel sees this as part of a bigger trend. Other manufacturers, such as Mitsubishi, will start importing to Japan Japanese cars Made in Thailand. “Non-Japanese imports climbed 13 percent in 2010 and advanced 20 percent in January. But imports of Japanese brands doubled last year and nearly quadrupled last month,” Greimel writes.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I'd be curious on the model breakdown of our domestics. Ford would probably be mostly Mustangs and F150's tho thinking of a F150 on the streets of Tokyo is a giggle. Talk about Godzilla!
This must be the only country where Ferrari outsells Hyundai.
"Nissan is riding a wave of March (elsewhere known as Micra) cars. They used to be made in Japan, now they are made in Thailand and brought to Japan. " IIRC, around 2003/4, Nissan March was one of the top selling (non-Kei) car in Japan. Another victim of Ghosn le cost ripper.
from the post: "“But,” says Automotive News, “Toyota still sold more imports in Japan than Ford, Cadillac, Jeep, Chevrolet, Chrysler and Dodge combined.” (In case you want the gruesome numbers, here they are: Ford 218, Cadillac 84, Jeep 73, Chevrolet 187, Chrysler 0, Dodge 46.)" I thought we had already established that Japan isn't much of a market for US automakers? Why not mention that no Hyundais were sold in Japan, also? After reading all of the posts, a couple of things seem clear to me: The Japanese car buyer is concerned with price and not where a car is assembled, not unlike an American car buyer. In fact, before long, Japanese consumers will be able to buy Mexican made autos just like we can in North America. And secondly, if the stars align, Mexico will become a world wide auto manufacturing powerhouse, supplying North, Central and South America and apparently some of Asian zones, too. Playing armchair CEO for a moment, if I were asked where I would want a car manufacturing plant, I too would put it in Mexico. I really think that VW's decision to build a car in the US (again) was a bad move. Same with Kia, too. As noted, the big 3 have plants there, along with Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Renault, Fiat... Am I leaving some one out?