An Overview of Automotive Manufacturing in Japan
Theautomotive industry in Japanis one of the most outstanding in the entire world and one can literally run out of fingers naming the companies involved in automobile manufacturing. Some of the companies involved in this industry are Toyota, Honda, Daihatsu, Suzuki, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Subaru, Mitsuoka, Yamaha, Nissan and Kawasaki. In 2008, Japan was the largest automobile manufacturer in the world but was knocked one spot down in 2009 by the current leader, China.
In 1904, the first automobile in Japan was manufactured and was basically a steam powered bus which was the creation of Torao Yamaha. Three years later, Japan’s first fully domestic manufactured gasoline-engine powered vehicle came into existence. Takuri, as it was known, was the creation of Komanosuke Uchiyama. In the early years of the Japanese automotive industry, most of the products were trucks which were manufactured under military subsidy. Before the Second World War, Japanese vehicles were designed based on European models for example, the Mitsubishi Model A was based on the Fiat A3-3 design and the Toyota AA model was based on the Chrysler Airflow. Between 1925 and 1936, Ford Motor Company, General Company and Chrysler setup subsidiaries in Japan and in total they produced 208,987 vehicles compared to a paltry 12,127 by the domestic producers. The government of Japan responded to these statistics by passing the Automobile Manufacturing Industry Law in 1936 with the aim of promoting the local industries while reducing external competition and by 1939 the foreign manufacturers had been forced out of the country.
About a decade and a half after the Second World War, focus shifted towards the manufacture of vehicles that were affordable to the average man. This was achieved with total success and the result was the skyrocketing of sales figures which spurred the industry into its current status. The models that featured in this era, which began in 1958, were the Honda N360, Mazda Carol, Suzuki Fronte, Mitsubishi Minica and Subaru 360. These vehicles were fitted with 360cc engines. By the sixties, the 700 to 800cc class of vehicles became the most popular family cars in the economy segment and models like the Mitsubishi Colt 800 and Toyota Publica became household names. Further growth was accelerated by the expansion of Japanese car companies into the foreign markets and between 1965 and 1975, car exports rose from 100,000 to 1,827,000. In the year 2000, Japan became the largest car producer in the world. Although the competition has stiffened over the years, and despite the fact that China has beaten Japan for the top spot in production numbers, the automobile exports from Japan are still among the country's most profitable.
