The Japanese automotive industry is one of the most prominent and largest
industries in the world. Japan has been in the top three of the countries with
most cars manufactured since the 1960s, surpassing Germany. The automotive
industry in Japan rapidly increased from the 1970s to the 1990s and in the 1980s
and 1990s, overtook the U.S. as the production leader with up to 13 million
cars per year manufactured and significant exports. After massive
ramp-up by China in the 2000s and fluctuating U.S. output, Japan is now
currently the third largest automotive producer in the world with an annual
production of 9.9 million automobiles in 2012. Japanese investments helped grow
the auto industry in many countries throughout the last few decades.
Japanese zaibatsu began building their first automobiles in the middle to late
1910s. The companies went about this by either designing their own trucks, 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 Motors,
and the Mitsubishi Model A, which was based upon the Fiat Tipo 3. The demand
for domestic trucks was greatly increased by the Japanese military
buildup before World War II, causing many Japanese manufacturers to break out
of their shells and design their own vehicles. In the 1970s Japan was the
pioneer in robotics manufacturing of vehicles.
The country is home to a number of companies that produce cars,
construction vehicles, motorcycles, ATVs, and engines. Japanese automotive
manufacturers include Toyota, Honda, Daihatsu, Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda,
Mitsubishi, Subaru, Isuzu, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Mitsuoka.
Cars designed in Japan have won the European Car of the Year, International
Car of the Year, and World Car of the Year awards many times. Japanese
manufactured and designed vehicles have had worldwide influence, and no longer
have the stigma they had in the 1950s and 1960s when they first emerged
internationally. History
= Early years= In 1904, Torao Yamaha produced the first
domestically manufactured bus, which was powered by a steam engine. In 1907,
Komanosuke Uchiyama produced the Takuri, the first entirely Japanese-made
gasoline engine car. The Kunisue Automobile Works built the Kunisue in
1910, and the following year manufactured the Tokyo in cooperation
with Tokyo Motor Vehicles Ltd. In 1911, Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works was
established and later began manufacturing a car called the DAT. In
1920, Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo Co., founded by William R. Gorham, began building the
Gorham and later the Lila. The company merged with Kwaishinsha in 1926 to form
the DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co.. From 1924 to 1927, Hakuyosha Ironworks
Ltd. built the Otomo. Toyota, a textile manufacturer, began building cars in
1936. Most early vehicles, however, were trucks produced under military subsidy.
Cars built in Japan before World War II tended to be based on European or
American models. The 1917 Mitsubishi Model A was based on the Fiat A3-3
design. In the 1930s, Nissan Motors' cars were based on the Austin 7 and
Graham-Paige designs, while the Toyota AA model was based on the Chrysler
Airflow. Ohta built cars in the 1930s based on Ford models, while Chiyoda
built a car resembling a 1935 Pontiac, and Sumida built a car similar to a
LaSalle. The Ford Motor Company of Japan was
established in 1925 and a production plant was set up in Yokohama. General
Motors established operations in Osaka in 1927. Chrysler also came to Japan and
set up Kyoritsu Motors. Between 1925 and 1936, the United States Big Three
automakers' Japanese subsidiaries produced a total of 208,967 vehicles,
compared to the domestic producers total of 12,127 vehicles. In 1936, the
Japanese government passed the Automobile Manufacturing Industry Law,
which was intended to promote the domestic auto industry and reduce
foreign competition; ironically, this stopped the groundbreaking of an
integrated Ford plant in Yokohama, modeled on Dagenham in England and
intended to serve the Asian market, that would have established Japan as a major
exporter. Instead by 1939, the foreign manufacturers had been forced out of
Japan. Vehicle production was shifted in the late 1930s to truck production due
to the Second Sino-Japanese War. For the first decade after World War II,
auto production was limited, and until 1966 most production consisted of
trucks. Thereafter passenger cars dominated the market. Japanese car
designs also continued to imitate or be derived from European and American
designs. Exports were very limited in the 1950s, adding up to only 3.1% of the
total passenger car production of the decade.
= 1960s to today= During the 1960s, Japanese automakers
launched a bevy of new kei cars in their domestic market; scooters and
motorcycles remained dominant, with sales of 1.47 million in 1960 versus a
mere 36,000 kei cars. These tiny automobiles usually featured very small
engines 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 its significance to the Volkswagen Beetle in
Germany. Other significant models were the Suzuki Fronte, Mitsubishi Minica,
Mazda Carol, and the Honda N360. The keis were very minimalist motoring,
however, much too small for most family car usage. The most popular economy car
segment in the sixties was the 700-800 cc class, embodied by the Toyota
Publica, Mitsubishi Colt 800, and the original Mazda Familia. By the end of
the sixties, however, these cars were being replaced by full one-litre cars
with four-stroke engines, a move which was spearheaded by Nissan's 1966 Sunny.
All other manufacturers quickly followed suit, except for Toyota who equipped
their Corolla with a 1.1 litre engine - the extra 100 cc were heavily touted in
period advertising. These small family cars took a bigger and bigger share of
an already expanding market. All vehicles sold in Japan were taxed yearly
based on exterior dimensions and engine displacement. This was established by
legislation passed in 1950 that established tax brackets on two
classifications; dimension regulations and engine displacement. The taxes were
a primary consideration as to which vehicles were selected by Japanese
consumers, and guided manufacturers as to what type of vehicles the market
would buy. Export expansion
Exports of passenger cars increased nearly twohundred-fold in the sixties
compared to the previous decade, and were now up to 17.0 percent of the total
production. This though, was still only the beginning. Rapidly increasing
domestic demand and the expansion of Japanese car companies into foreign
markets in the 1970s further accelerated growth. Effects of the 1973 Arab Oil
Embargo accelerated vehicle exports along with the exchange rate of the
Japanese yen to the U.S. Dollar, UK Pound, and West German Deutsche Mark.
Passenger car exports rose from 100,000 in 1965 to 1,827,000 in 1975. Automobile
production in Japan continued to increase rapidly after the 1970s, as
Mitsubishi 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.
Japanese cars became popular with British buyers in the early 1970s, with
Nissan's Datsun badged cars proving especially popular and earning a
reputation in Britain for their reliability and low running costs,
although rust was a major problem. In the 1960s Japanese manufacturers began
to compete head-on in the domestic market, model for model. This was
exemplified by the "CB-war" between the Toyota Corona and Nissan's Bluebird.
While this initially led to benefits for consumers, before soon R&D expenditures
swelled. Towards the late 1980s and early 1990s Japanese automobile
manufacturers had entered a stage of "Hyper-design" and "Hyper-equipment"; an
arms race leading to less competitive products albeit produced in a highly
efficient manner. World leader
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,
particularly due to old and new competition from South Korea, China and
India. Nevertheless, Japan's car industry continues to flourish, its
market share has risen again, and in the first quarter of 2008 Toyota surpassed
American General Motors to become the world's largest car manufacturer. Today,
Japan is the third largest automobile market and, until China recently
overtook them, was the largest car producer in the world. Still, automobile
export remains one of the country's most profitable exports and is a cornerstone
of recovery plan for the latest economic crisis.
Timeline of the Japanese car industry 1907 - Hatsudoki Seizo Co., Ltd.
established 1911 - Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works
established 1917 - Mitsubishi Motors' 1st car
1918 - Isuzu's 1st car 1920-1925 - Gorham/Lila - auto
production established 1924-1927 - Otomo built at the Hakuyosha
Ironworks in Tokyo 1931 - Mazda Mazdago - by Toyo Kogyo
corp, later Mazda 1934-1957 - Ohta begins auto production
1936 - Toyota's 1st car 1952-1966 - Prince Motor Company
1953-1967 - Hino Motors starts auto production
1954 - Subaru's 1st car 1955 - Suzuki's 1st car
1957 - Daihatsu's 1st car 1963 - Honda's 1st production car
1966 - One of the best selling cars of all time, the Toyota Corolla, is
introduced 1967 - Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association is founded 1967 - Mazda Cosmo 110S was one of first
two mass-produced cars with Wankel rotary engine
1980 - Japan surpassed the United States and became first in auto manufacturing
1981 - Voluntary Export Restraints from May limit exports to United States to
1.68 million cars per year; redundant by 1990 as production inside US displaces
direct exports; similar policies in several EU countries
1982 - Honda Accord becomes the first Japanese car built in the United States
at Honda's Marysville, Ohio manufacturing facility
1982 - Mitsuoka 1st car 1983 - Holden and Nissan form a joint
venture in Australia; Nissan Sunny assembled at Nissan's Smryna, Tennessee
facility 1984 - Toyota opens NUMMI, the first
joint venture plant in the United States with General Motors
1986 - Acura is launched in the US by Honda
1988 - Daihatsu enters the US making it the first time all nine Japanese
manufacturers are present; Toyota Camry becomes third Japanese car manufactured
at Toyota's Erlanger, Kentucky assembly plant
1989 - Lexus is launched in the US by Toyota
1989 - Infiniti is launched in the US by Nissan
1989 - United Australian Automobile Industries founded in Australia as a
joint venture between Toyota and Holden 1991 - Mazda HR-X was one of the first
hydrogen car 1994 - Japan conceded to the United
States back in auto manufacturing 1996 - UAAI joint venture dissolved
1997 - Toyota Prius was the first mass-produced hybrid car
2003 - Scion is launched by Toyota 2006 - Japan surpassed the United States
and became first in auto manufacturing again
2008 - Toyota surpassed General Motors to become the world's largest car
manufacturer 2009 - Japan was beat by China and
became second in auto manufacturing 2010 - 2009–2010 Toyota vehicle recalls
2011 - Tohoku earthquake affects production.
Manufacturers production volumes The following are vehicle production
volumes for Japanese vehicle manufacturers, according to the Japan
Automobile Manufacturers Association. See also
List of automobile manufacturers of Japan
Automotive industry References
Further reading Robert Sobel. Car Wars: The Untold
Story. E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24289-9. Wanda James. Driving from Japan:
Japanese Cars in America. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1734-6.
Marco Ruiz. Complete History Of The Japanese Car. Portland House. ISBN
978-0517617779. Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association. THE MOTOR INDUSTRY OF JAPAN 2011.
External links The Society of Automotive Engineers of
Japan "240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology"