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Automotive industry in Japan

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 (when it was oriented both
for domestic use and worldwide export) 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 A concept vehicle by Lexus
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.[1] Japanese
investments helped grow the auto industry in many countries throughout the last
few decades.

Japanese zaibatsu (business conglomerates) 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 Nissan Leaf, 2011 European Car
Japan under license. Such examples of this are Isuzu partnering with Wolseley of the Year and World Car of the
Motors (UK), Nissan partnering with British automaker Austin, and the Year
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 Mazda2 Demio DE, 2008 World
Car of the Year
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 vehicles have
had worldwide influence, and no longer have the stigma they had in the 1950s and
1960s when they first emerged internationally.

Honda Accord sedan, 2008

International Car of the Year

Contents
1 History
1.1 Early years
1.2 1960s to today
1.2.1 Export expansion
1.2.2 World leader

2 Timeline of the Japanese car industry

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3 Manufacturers production volumes

4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Lexus LS 460, 2007 World Car
of the Year and International Car
of the Year
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, Kaishinsha Nissan GT-R, 2007 International
Motorcar Works was established and later began manufacturing a car called the Car of the Year
DAT. In 1920, Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo Co., founded by William R. Gorham, began
building the Gorham and later the Lila. The company merged with Kaishinsha in
1926 to form the DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co. (later to evolve into Nissan
Motors). From 1924 to 1927, Hakuyosha Ironworks Ltd. built the Otomo. Toyota,
a textile manufacturer, began building cars in 1936.[2] Most early vehicles,
however, were trucks produced under military subsidy. Isuzu, Yanmar and
Daihatsu initially focused on diesel engine development.

Cars built in Japan before World War II tended to be based on European or Honda Civic EX, 2005
American models. The 1917 Mitsubishi Model A was based on the Fiat A3-3 International Car of the Year
design. (This model was considered to be the first mass-produced car in Japan,
with 22 units produced.) 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.[3][4]

Automobile manufacture from Japanese companies was struggling, despite

investment efforts by the Japanese Government. The 1923 Great Kant Toyota Prius, 2005 European
earthquake devastated most of Japan's fledgling infrastructure and truck and Car of the Year, first and
construction equipment manufacturing benefited from recovery efforts. Yanase & bestselling mass-produced
Co., Ltd. ( Yanase Kabushiki gaisha) was an importer of American- hybrid car
made cars to Japan and contributed to disaster recovery efforts by importing GMC
trucks and construction equipment. By bringing in American products, Japanese
manufacturers were able to examine the imported vehicles and develop their own products.

From 1925 until the beginning of World War II, Ford and GM[5] had factories in Japan, where they dominated the
Japanese market. 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

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Motors.[6] 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;[7] 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 Toyota Yaris, 2000 European
would have established Japan as a major exporter. Instead by 1939, the foreign Car of the Year
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.[8][9][10]

During World War II, Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu and Kurogane built trucks and
motorcycles for the Imperial Japanese Army, with Kurogane introducing the
worlds first mass-produced four-wheel-drive car, called the Kurogane Type 95 in
1936. For the first decade after World War II, auto production was limited, and
until 1966 most production consisted of trucks (including three-wheeled vehicles).
Thereafter passenger cars dominated the market. Japanese car designs also First Suzuki Wagon R, 1993,
bestselling national kei class car
continued to imitate or be derived from European and American designs.[11]
Exports were very limited in the 1950s, adding up to only 3.1% of the total
passenger car production of the decade.[12]

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.[13] These tiny automobiles usually
featured very small engines (under 360cc, but were sometimes fitted with engines
of up to 600cc for export) to keep taxes much lower than larger cars. The average Subaru Impreza, one of the first
person in Japan was now able to afford an automobile, which boosted sales all wheel drive cars
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- First Mazda MX-5, 1989,
800 cc class, embodied by the Toyota Publica, Mitsubishi Colt 800, and the bestselling two-seater sports car
original Mazda Familia. By the end of the sixties, however, these (often two-
stroke) cars were being replaced by full one-litre cars with four-stroke engines, a
move which was spearheaded by Nissan's 1966 Sunny.[14] 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.

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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.[12] 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
Mazda RX-7, 1978, most mass-
car exports rose from 100,000 in 1965 to 1,827,000 in 1975. Automobile
produced car with Wankel rotary
production in Japan continued to increase rapidly after the 1970s, as Mitsubishi
engine
(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.

Japanese cars became popular with British buyers in the early 1970s, with Nissan's
Datsun badged cars (the Nissan brand was not used on British registered models
until 1983) 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 First Datsun/Nissan Z-car, 1969,
Nissan's Bluebird. While this initially led to benefits for consumers, before long bestselling sports car series

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.[15]

World leader
With Japanese manufacturers producing very affordable, reliable, and popular
cars throughout the 1990s, Japan became the largest car producing nation in the Mazda Cosmo 110S, 1967, one
world in 2000. However, its market share has decreased slightly in recent years, of first two mass-produced cars
particularly due to old and new competition from South Korea, China and India. with Wankel rotary engine
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.[16] 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. Even though Japan has been taken over by Mainland China
as the world's largest car producer, Japanese imports continue to be widely used First Toyota Corolla, 1966, best
on streets and highways in the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong selling model of cars of all time

Kong and Macau.

Timeline of the Japanese car industry

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This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/

index.php?title=Automotive_industry_in_Japan&action=edit).

1907 - Hatsudoki Seizo Co., Ltd. established

1911 - Kaishinsha Motorcar Works established
1917 - Mitsubishi Motors' 1st car
1917 - Nippon Internal Combustion Engine Co. Ltd. established (integrated into Nissan)
1918 - Isuzu's 1st car
1920-1925 - Gorham/Lila - auto production established (merged into Datsun)
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 - Kurogane Type 95 world's first four-wheel-drive car manufactured
1936 - Toyota's 1st car (Toyota AA)
1952-1966 - Prince Motor Company (integrated into Nissan)
1953-1967 - Hino Motors starts auto production (merged into Toyota)
1954 - Subaru's 1st car (Subaru P-1)
1955 - Suzuki's 1st car (Suzulight)
1957 - Daihatsu's 1st car (Daihatsu Midget)
1963 - Honda's 1st production car (Honda S500)
1966 - One of the best selling cars of all time, the Toyota Corolla, is introduced; Nissan opens its first North American
manufacturing facility in Cuernavaca, Mexico as Nissan Mexicana
1967 - Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) is founded
1967 - Mazda Cosmo 110S was one of the first two mass-produced cars with Wankel rotary engine
1980 - Japan surpassed the United States and became first in auto manufacturing; Nissan USA breaks ground for its
Smyrna, Tennessee manufacturing plant
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[17]
1982 - Honda Accord becomes the first Japanese car built in the United States at Honda's Marysville, Ohio
manufacturing facility
1982 - Mitsuoka 1st car (BUBU shuttle 50)
1983 - Holden and Nissan form a joint venture in Australia; Nissan Sunny (Sentra) 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 (UAAI) founded in Australia as a joint venture between Toyota and
Holden
1991 - Mazda HR-X was one of the first hydrogen (combined with Wankel rotary) 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 - 20092010 Toyota vehicle recalls
2011 - Tohoku earthquake affects production.

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Manufacturers production volumes

The following are vehicle production volumes for Japanese vehicle manufacturers, according to the Japan Automobile
Manufacturers Association (JAMA).[18]

Passenger cars
Manufacturer 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Toyota 3,849,353 3,631,146 2,543,715 2,993,714 2,473,546 3,170,000
Nissan 982,870 1,095,661 780,495 1,008,160 1,004,666 1,035,726
Honda 1,288,577 1,230,621 812,298 941,558 687,948 996,832
Suzuki 1,061,767 1,059,456 758,057 915,391 811,689 896,781
Mazda 952,290 1,038,725 693,598 893,323 798,060 830,294
Daihatsu 648,289 641,322 551,275 534,586 479,956 633,887
Subaru 403,428 460,515 357,276 437,443 366,518 551,812
Mitsubishi 758,038 770,667 365,447 586,187 536,142 448,598
Other 25 30 0 0 0 0
Total 9,944,637 9,928,143 6,862,161 8,310,362 7,158,525 8,554,219

Trucks
Manufacturer 2007 2008 2009
Toyota 291,008 271,544 178,954
Suzuki 156,530 158,779 150,245
Daihatsu 138,312 151,935 132,980
Isuzu 236,619 250,692 118,033
Nissan 188,788 189,005 109,601
Mitsubishi 88,045 83,276 61,083
Hino 101,909 101,037 62,197
Subaru 72,422 64,401 51,123
Mitsubishi Fuso 131,055 115,573 49,485
Honda 43,268 33,760 28,626
Mazda 43,221 39,965 23,577
UD Trucks 44,398 45,983 18,652
Other 2,445 2,449 545
Total 1,538,020 1,508,399 985,101

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Buses
Manufacturer 2007 2008 2009
Toyota 85,776 109,698 69,605
Mitsubishi Fuso 10,225 10,611 4,982
Nissan 7,422 8,416 4,479
Hino 4,984 5,179 4,473
Isuzu 3,668 3,221 2,077
UD Trucks 1,595 1,977 1,179
Total 113,670 139,102 86,795

See also
List of automobile manufacturers of Japan
Automotive industry

References
1. Toyota raises profits forecast as recovery continues, BBC News, 7 February 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16923619
2. Japan's Auto Industry - The Pioneers (1901-1935) Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA)
http://njkk.com/about/industry1.htm
3. The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles by David Burgess Wise; Wellfleet Press; Secaucus, New Jersey
1992 ISBN 1-55521-808-3
4. Automobiles of the World by Joseph H. Wherry; Chilton Book Company; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1968
5. GM early history in Japan (http://www.autonews.com/article/20080914/ANA03/809150388/gm-had-early-start-in-japan
-but-was-hobbled-by-nationalism)
6. "About Kyoritsu" (http://www.kyoritsu-seiki.com/eng/profile/profile.html). Kyoritsu Seiki Co. Ltd. Kyoritsu Seiki Co. Ltd.
Retrieved 22 December 2016.
7. http://njkk.com/about/industry2.htm
8. Development History Of Japanese Automobile Industry (https://carfromjapan.com/article/industry-knowledge/develop
ment-history-japanese-automotive-industry/) CAR FROM JAPAN
9. Cars of the Thirties and Forties by Michael Sedgwick; Crescent Books; ISBN 978-0-517-32051-8
10. "Remade in Japan" Los Angeles Times June 6, 1996 http://articles.latimes.com/1996-06-02/business/fi-
11017_1_japanese-auto
11. Torrey, Volta, ed. (November 1952). "New Japanese Cars Follow U.S., English Styling" (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=fSEDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=RA2-PA36#v=onepage&q&f=false). Popular Science. 161 (5): 136137.
12. Moser, Robert (1971), Logoz, Arthur, ed., "Personenwagen-Weltproduktion" [Global passenger car production], Auto-
Universum 1971 (in German), Zrich, Switzerland: Verlag Internationale Automobil-Parade AG, XIV: 65
13. "Establishing a Mass Production System" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090718001724/http://www.njkk.com/about/in
dustry7.htm). About JAMA: Japan's Auto Industry. Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. Archived from the
original (http://njkk.com/about/industry7.htm) on 2009-07-18.
14. Ikeda, Eizo; Sonobe, Hiroshi (June 1974). "Road Test: Datsun 100A". Motor Magazine International.
15. Lee, Chunli (April 2001). "Chinas Automobilindustrie in der Globalisierung" (http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/publikatio
nen/pdf/c015.pdf) [China's automobile industry in globalisation] (PDF). Berichte des Arbeitsbereichs Chinaforschung
(in German). Bremen, Germany: Universitt Bremen (15).

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16. Bunkley, Nick (2008-04-24). "G.M. Says Toyota Has Lead in Global Sales Race" (https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/2
4/business/worldbusiness/24auto.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin). The New York Times. Retrieved
2010-04-26.
17. Benjamin, Daniel K. (September 1999). "Voluntary Export Restraints on Automobiles" (http://www.perc.org/articles/arti
cle416.php). PERC Reports: Volume 17, No. 3. Property & Environment Research Center. Retrieved 2008-11-18. "In
May 1981, with the American auto industry mired in recession, Japanese car makers agreed to limit exports of
passenger cars to the United States. This "voluntary export restraint" (VER) program, initially supported by the
Reagan administration, allowed only 1.68 million Japanese cars into the U.S. each year. The cap was raised to 1.85
million cars in 1984, and to 2.30 million in 1985, before the program was terminated in 1994"
18. "JAMA Active matrix database system" (http://jamaserv.jama.or.jp/newdb/eng/index.html). Jamaserv.jama.or.jp.
Retrieved 2013-04-02.

Further reading
Robert Sobel (1984). Car Wars: The Untold Story. E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24289-9.
Wanda James (2005). Driving from Japan: Japanese Cars in America. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-
1734-6.
Marco Ruiz (1986). Complete History Of The Japanese Car. Portland House. ISBN 978-0517617779.
Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (May 2011). THE MOTOR INDUSTRY OF JAPAN 2011 (http://www.jam
a.or.jp).

External links
The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan (JSAE) "240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology" (http://w
ww.jsae.or.jp/autotech/index_e.html)

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