Chrysler had a longstanding partnership with Mitsubishi and successfully imported the Mitsubishi Colt as the Dodge Colt for many years.Would be interesting to see how US carmakers attempt to get into the Kei Car segment from the mid/late-1950s, essentially the dimensions of the segment at the time were very close to the Fiat 500 albeit with shorter width compared to the Fiat.
Both GM and Ford were investigating rear-engined cars from that period due to the success of the Volkswagen Beetle as well as even front-engined FWD projects, not sure how Chrysler and smaller US carmakers would have gotten involved though.
Chrysler had a longstanding partnership with Mitsubishi and successfully imported the Mitsubishi Colt as the Dodge Colt for many years.
Why not in the 1920s? GM and Ford expanded to Europe and Australia during that period so why not Japan?The fate of this would depend on when and how the factories came about. The Japanese auto industry after WWII largely started with building licensed copies of British designs while they developed their own, and they weren't really able to match the West for style and amenities until the late 1960s at the very earliest. Of one of the four major American automakers can get well established in the Japanese market before then you may be able to have this be the case, but it wouldn't be easy to maintain that position.
The fate of this would depend on when and how the factories came about. The Japanese auto industry after WWII largely started with building licensed copies of British designs while they developed their own, and they weren't really able to match the West for style and amenities until the late 1960s at the very earliest. Of one of the four major American automakers can get well established in the Japanese market before then you may be able to have this be the case, but it wouldn't be easy to maintain that position.
British makes translate better to Japan, they are already RHD and smallish enough. An American automaker would need to down size its models and engineering, but might introduce the sense of styling that later gets Japanese makes more appealing in the USA. Would Nash be a better fit? Could the USA have put Nash in charge of rebuilding the Japanese auto industry post-war? It might not do much to save Nash in the interim but then it might make them some sort of competitor once gas prices rise and small becomes the fad. And here the Japanese invasion might occur sooner since this is not Japan, Inc., but merely an American import?
That's true--although from 1910 to 1916 (approximately), the US had dozens of manufacturers of so-called cyclecars, lightweight automobiles that carried two or four passengers, and often used motorcycle parts and/or technology. Often the power plants were two cylinder air-cooled engines; drives were often sprocket chains or V-belts. (Google, for example, "Dudly Bug" and you'll see what I mean.) Cyclecars would have been a natural fit for the Japanese market.
Why not in the 1920s? GM and Ford expanded to Europe and Australia during that period so why not Japan?
Australia was tiny (and still is) yet they established themselves there.Market size problem, the pre WWII Japan was not highly mechanized.
Australia was tiny (and still is) yet they established themselves there.
1920s Japan also included Korea and Taiwan and would've been a good place to export to China unlike Australia which is in the middle of the ocean.Australia was and is a more car oriented society then Japan. Japan has 5-6 times of population and about 2.5 times of total no. of automobile than Australia in 2017, but Australia actually has higher no.of automobiles per capita.
1920s Japan also included Korea and Taiwan and would've been a good place to export to China unlike Australia which is in the middle of the ocean.
They made designs that sold very well in Europe.By the 1960s, the style of cars sold in Japan were very different than in the US. I don't know if Ford would start making more "Asian" designs to appeal to that market (basically the reverse of what some of the Japanese companies created in the US market).