More barrier grief. (efforts by Ford Motor Co's Japanese subsidiary to enter the Japanese automobile market)(Brief Article)

Economist (US), The, July, 1995

KONEN SUZUKI is a man with a mission. Some 25 years ago, he was in a team of young Toyota executives sent to crack the American market, where people thought Japanese cars were cheap and nasty. By the early 1980s Japanese cars had taken 30% of the American market, because they were cheap and good. Now Mr Suzuki, who is president of Ford's Japanese subsidiary, is trying to persuade the Japanese that not all American cars are gas-guzzling monsters with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

It is an uphill task. American car makers have barely 3% of the Japanese market. Ford sold only 15,000 imports in Japan last year, plus another 45,000 Ford-badged models made in Japan by Mazda, in which Ford has a 24.6% stake. One of the problems Mr Suzuki faces is that the...

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