US car companies establish factories in Japan

kernals12

Banned
Our automakers have divisions all over the world to cater to the unique tastes of different markets. Oddly however while GM and Ford both had divisions in Germany, Britain, Brazil, and even Australia, they never tried anything in Japan. Why not?
 
Ford established a manufacturing facility in the port city of Yokohama in February 1925, where Model T vehicles were assembled using imported kits according to Ford's Wiki page, the factory subsequently produced 10,000 Model A's up to 1936 and production ceased in 1940 as a result of the looming war. As we know Ford is part owner in Mazda. Without the war at least Ford might have built a long-term presence and cross-pollinated? Building locally designed or imported designed Fords, exporting these as its compacts to the Commonwealth markets? I could see Ford of Japan being much closer to Ford in the UK and a bigger player in Australia. This is where I am going in my own TL. In reading on the modern topic it appears the US automakers are simply not building the same customer experience in their dealership networks, they do not cater to Japanese preferences or needs, in short they choose not to compete.
 
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.
 

kernals12

Banned
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.
 
Chrysler had a longstanding partnership with Mitsubishi and successfully imported the Mitsubishi Colt as the Dodge Colt for many years.

That is indeed the case though was thinking in terms of the Kei Car segment such as the Mitsubishi Minica that would have appealed specifically to the Japanese market, Chrysler UK had the Imp by Rootes which was above the Kei Car segment in terms of size and displacement while the closest Chrysler Europe had was the Mini-sized Simca 936 prototype that again was a tier above both the Fiat 500 and typical Kei Cars. - https://drive-my.com/en/retro-carss/item/2687-project-936-simca-s-mini-venture.html
 
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.
 

kernals12

Banned
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.
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.

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?
 
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.
 
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.

And what about motorcycles? I think they get overlooked and most countries had a thriving motorcycle industry "just before" cars took over, they are cheaper, more robust and do well both in town and out in the country. as we know Japan supports several motorcycle manufacturers, could one or more be a partner or wholly-owned of an American company?
 
Australia was tiny (and still is) yet they established themselves there.

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.
 

kernals12

Banned
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.
 
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.

Despite being one of the few successful examples of modernization outside Europe and Americas, the interwar Japan was a poor country when compared western countries. China was in worse situation with automobiles restricted to coastal cities and a few provincial cities, and most of those are NOT private cars.
 
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).
 

kernals12

Banned
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).
They made designs that sold very well in Europe.
 
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