- #981 of 3958
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Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [cooterbfd]
by manegi
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Nov 28, 2008 (2:52 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 28, 2008 3:33 am)
Nevertheless, why such a small amount of cars imported into such a large car market???
I can only guess, but these are the likely reasons :
1. Gas prices are high in Japan, parking is cramped, and the roads are usually narrow and twisty (due to mountainous terrain). So smaller cars are more popular.
2. Japan is very strong in small cars, so hard for other countries to compete. Inside Japan we even have 600cc cars, which very few countries make. And the price points are very competitive (so hard to import such a low price car and compete).
I guess if the "market share" at the high end is calculated, the imports would have a much bigger market share. For instance, Lexus is still way below BMW. You can see the inordinately high percentage of Hummers in the total GM sales in Japan.....
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- #982 of 3958
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Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [manegi]
by cooterbfd
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Nov 28, 2008 (3:06 pm)
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Replying to: manegi (Nov 28, 2008 2:52 pm)
I understand that the cars are very small. As far as competing, VW, Fiat, Ford, GM, Renault, ALL make small cars that get rave reviews worldwide (Ford I speak of their European branch, and GM through Vauxhall and Holden). All made in RHD. Common sense would tell you that if the cars were available in Japan for a reasonable price, you would see a greater market share for the "imports" just based on the sheer number of models available.
Bermuda has the same type of roads you speak of for Japan, except I don't think Hamilton is any more congested than say Boston downtown, yet the variety of cars driven there would make your head spin.
You'd be hard pressed to convince me that the Japanese government doesn't have the heaviest hand in the low number of imported cars.
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- #983 of 3958
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Re: Car Pool to Washington [tlong]
by dave8697
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Nov 28, 2008 (3:37 pm)
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 28, 2008 11:53 am)
Is 30 mpg hyped? My 6600 mile a year commute costs $1.88 less a month in a 31 mpg car than in a 29 mpg car. If gas were to return to $3 a gallon, the monthly difference grows to $3.65 less in gas for the car getting 2 more mpg.
All circles back to not supporting America for whatever reason, now including $1,88 a month in gas costs by not getting over 30 mpg.
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- #984 of 3958
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Re: Car Pool to Washington [dave8697]
by gagrice
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Nov 28, 2008 (3:57 pm)
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Replying to: dave8697 (Nov 28, 2008 3:37 pm)
The cost of gas even when it hit $4.50 here in CA was not the reason for dropping GM vehicles after nearly 20 years of being pleased with GM. It was going to cheap materials and poor build quality. I wanted a QUIET large SUV. You would think that GM could handle that. My 2005 GMC PU had wind noise that nearly drowned out the great Bose sound system. It was due to fitting the doors properly. If I pulled on the door handle while cruising down the highway at 75 MPH it would quiet down. The dealer was unable to fix it. Even then I would have bought a new Denali if the dealer had treated me decent.
I say let GM DIE and the sooner the better. There are companies building good vehicles in the USA that are quiet when cruising down the highway.
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- #985 of 3958
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Re: Car Pool to Washington [dave8697]
by kernick
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Nov 28, 2008 (6:17 pm)
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Replying to: dave8697 (Nov 28, 2008 3:37 pm)
All circles back to not supporting America for whatever reason,
Mine was wanting an AWD mid-size sedan (mazdaspeed6), w/270hp 4-cyl, stability control, Bose stereo and Xenon headlights, and temp. control for an OTD price of $22,200 after rebates. Mazda had it; the Big3 had nothing comparable.
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- #986 of 3958
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Re: effect of the media [elroy5]
by lemko
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Nov 28, 2008 (6:52 pm)
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Replying to: elroy5 (Nov 26, 2008 10:15 pm)
If all Americans thought this way, we would still be driving cars with 80's technology.
What's wrong with that? I still do! I have no problem with either my 1988 Buick Park Avenue and 1989 Cadillac Brougham! I know somebody on Edmunds who still drives cars with 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s technology. 
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- #987 of 3958
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Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [maple2]
by lemko
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Nov 28, 2008 (7:10 pm)
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Replying to: maple2 (Nov 27, 2008 5:20 pm)
I understand the Japanese people love potato chips, but their government tariffs them like a confection - thus making U.S. potato chips prohibitively expensive.
GM could build a small car for the Japanese market that makes a Corolla or a Civic look like a 1948 Crosley assembled at the Zastava works, and they'd still be forbidden to sell it in Japan or it would be tariffed so high that the average Japanese might as well spend the money on an S-Class Mercedes.
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- #988 of 3958
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Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [tlong]
by lemko
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Nov 28, 2008 (7:15 pm)
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 27, 2008 6:16 pm)
Well, they were buddies in WWII and, by the looks of it, they never let go of their global ambitions. They couldn't beat us in a military conflict, so they're destroying us faster in an economic conflict faster than you can print a counterfeit five pound banknote.
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- #989 of 3958
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Re: Uncle, can you spare a dime? [cooterbfd]
by lemko
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Nov 28, 2008 (7:25 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Nov 27, 2008 6:59 pm)
Heck, if I had the power, I'd toss Toyota, Honda, and others out, confiscate their U.S. plants and divide them among the Big Three. I'd also forbid the Japanese from ever selling another one of their vehicles here again. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Heck, they won't let us into their market, so they don't get into ours! Let's see how fast and how far they fall without the NA market! Will they go to China? The Chinese hate their guts and for good reasons! There are plenty of anti-Japanese rallies going on in China as I type.Will they go to Europe? I think Europe cares more and has more pride in their auto industry than the U.S. than to let this foreign horde pollute their automotive landscape with their bland transportation capsules. 
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- #990 of 3958
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Re: Car Pool to Washington [kernick]
by lemko
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Nov 28, 2008 (7:32 pm)
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Replying to: kernick (Nov 27, 2008 7:18 pm)
If it were only so. I think people will default to one of the imports. When Oldsmobile folded, former Olds buyers didn't necessarily go to another GM division, but rather to Honda or Hyundai. I can't see the die-hard Chevy fan ever considering a Ford or a Mopar. As for me, I'd go to Chrysler, but feel they're already a dead duck. That would only leave me two unpalatable choices - Ford or the imports. Ford would be like forcing me to eat Brussels sprouts, which I hate with a passion. The imports would be like forcing me to swallow a couple of cyanide capsules with an arsenic chaser with a spritz of strychnine.
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