Thin shapes, chrome grips: emblematic cars imported from the United States sold by Yosuke Fukuda Breathe Californian Cool dealership, but on Japanese roads, US brands, rejected by the local audience, are rare of Donald Trump’s dam, which makes it a Belli Casus with Tokyo.
The Japanese Toyota is the number two of automotive sales in the United States, where he sold 2.3 million vehicles last year. In contrast, the American leader in the General Motors sector sold only 587 Chevrolet and 449 Cadillac in Japan, of which Ford retired almost ten years ago. It is not a general aversion of Japanese buyers for foreign brands: in 2024, the Germans Mercedes-Benz and BMW sold some 52,000 vehicles in the country.
“They don’t take our cars, but we take millions of yours!” The outraged president, Donald Trump, in April. Anxious for relaunching the American industry, Washington requires a 25% customs surcharge in imported vehicles, a blow to Japan. But the perspective of a resurgence of US sales in the archipelago remains uncertain: many Japanese admire ancient US cars, but when it comes to buying a new vehicle, they trust national brands, at AFP Yosuke Fukuda.
“There are no places to sell them”
In its garage in the middle of the rice fields north of Tokyo, where the Californian hip-hop resonates, it offers about twenty ancient American models in different catering stages: Chevrolet Nova of 1970, Buick Roadmaster of 1954 … Yosukefukud narrow streets in the park of narrow streets.
“To be honest, I think the problem lies in the size of the” Japanese roads, sighs, which also evokes “probably unfounded” impression that US cars fall more frequently.
Although some new American models are smaller sedans, these brands remain a niche option, because “there are practically no places to sell, repair them,” he insists.
However, beyond local tastes, Donald Trump estimates that Japan excludes US cars through a “trap” that passes in particular through its technical security standards. Donald Trump recently punished his social network of truth “The Bolus Ball Test” attributed to the Japanese.
“He lifts a bowling ball at a height of 6 meters and drops it on the car’s hood. And if the hood is full of potholes, the car is considered breach,” he said in 2018.
An official of the Japanese Ministry of Transportation, responsible for security standards, told AFP that a bowling ball was not used to measure the qualities of a vehicle.
Donald Trump “may confuse with the principle of a test where a hemispheric human head model is hit in the hood”, which must work to absorb the impact, he added.
However, anxious to offer salaries in their commercial negotiations with Washington, Tokyo could soften its regulations by framing imported cars, particularly by expanding access to a simplified control process.
Left handling
It remains to overcome anchored prejudices.
“My toyota is not special, but at least it does not break down,” Smiles Herashi Uchida, an employee of a 56 -year -old construction company. Many American cars cannot park in floors, and their effectiveness in terms of fuel consumption is insufficient. “
Distinguishing, the Jeep (Stellantis Group) brand is better resist, with about 9,600 vehicles sold last year in Japan.
But in general, “I doubt that American manufacturers will grant real importance to the Japanese market, much smaller than their national market,” Masamitsu Misawa said, editor, in the main of the Japanese magazine, due to the upper part. In contrast, German brands have been able to prosper with an extended range and “corresponding better to the tastes of the Japanese,” he told AFP. Even the essential details: while in Japan, we drive to the left (as in the United Kingdom), the German cars sold there are well equipped with a steering wheel placed to the right.
A modification that their American rivals do not care. But that could change: the new GM Chevrolet Corvette offered in Japan is equipped with a steering wheel for the first time, a sign of a renewed effort to enter this market.
Source: BFM TV
