A common meme that seems to be going around WRT to the somewhat distressed state of the US car industry is that Germany and Japan have protective tarriffs in their domestic markets, and that if GM was “allowed” to sell Escalades and Malibus and Monte Carlos in Japan, as the Japanese are allowed to sell cars in the US, that would put them on an equal footing with Toyota. I have conferred at length with a German collegue about this and confirmed that for the EU, this is not generally true, and that if the Buick Regal was really so much better than the BMW 5 series, there’s nothing stopping GM from selling them in Munich.
Is this also true for Japan? Do the Japanese have any kind of protective tariff or quota that prevents Japan being flooded with Lincoln Navigators and Hummers and generally standing in the way of salvation for US auto makers?
I know of several specific reasons to doubt this as
For some time, Toyota imported made in the US Cavaliers as Toyota Cavaliers for the Japanese market.
The Japanese seem to have lots of German cars, and the Germans Japanese cars.
A look at Japanese used car auctions reveals a small but not insignificant number of relatively new (2003+) US built vehicles for sale, presumably these were imported and sold as new vehicles without any issue.
However I cannot find any definite source categorically confirming or denying this evil Japanese protectionist barrier that is killing the US auto industry.
Germany is part of the European Union and as such unable to determine its own tariffs policy - tariffs are within the competences of the Union, not the member states. The EU does have protective tariffs and sometimes introduces new ones when there are trade disputes with the U.S., but these apply to the Union as a whole, not selected countries.
Well, Navigators and Hummers won’t fit on Japanese streets. GM and Ford do quite well in Europe, as they have factories over there that produce European cars. The Buick Regal isn’t a BMW’s competition anyway; they’re different classes of cars. Global platforms work, but there’s not really a global, one-size-fits-all car at all.
Consider that other than North America and Australia, most of the world the uses cars is rather cramped and pays a lot for petroleum; our subcompact Focus is a rather large vehicle by European standards, for example, and gets good mileage for its size. I don’t know enough about China yet to know if they have the same conditions.
One of the advantages of NAFTA is that it exposes US companies to parts of the world where there are no tariffs. For example, by building a car in Mexico who may not have tariffs to The Congo we can avoid tariffs on US products in the Congo. This was just an invented example, by the way.
WTO has set a ‘reasonably’ level playing field. japan especially has a lot of non tariff barriers not least of which are language and culture.
it’s no coincidence that sales volumes correlate with japanese and german cars generally have the highest quality and US the lowest. US makers are hamstrung by unfunded pension liabilities that in japan and germany are more funded by State socialism. that said, in part the unfunded liabilities are a self inflected wound.
i’m deeply involved with the china automotive market. by the way, GM is the top brand by quantity followed by VW in china.
Just to quibble with you a bit, the notion that the Japanese and Germans make “better quality cars” is arguable. While this was certainly true back in the 70’s and 80’s when Detroit figured they owned the US car market by divine right and got lazy, more recent analysis has shown the playing field to be pretty evenly matched these days. Site.
Of course, the whole notion of “Asian”, “European” and “American” cars these days is increasingly meaningless. The logistical chains and management structures of all the major manufacturers are breathtakingly global. Your Toyota may have been assembled in Mexico with parts made in China, under the supervision of a Swedish executive.
That’s not what I see in the trade journals I read daily. Check out autobeat daily, which has a daily summary but I’m pretty sure costs you a subscription. If you read through that link, actually the bottom line is most ratings say the US makers have improved and not that the US makers are better or even matching the German and Japanese.
The japanese use very subtle ways to prevent auto imports. they have their own “safety” regulations, which dictate that bumpers be of a non-standard deign, mirrors on fenders, etc. modifying a FORD Mustang for sale in japan costs about $7-8000. Also, the Japanese laws dictate that all cars must pass a comprehensive inspection at 5 years of age-including total replacement of the braking system. this means that used cars are essentially worthless-most are exported to Russia and S. America-all of this makes it next to impossible to import cars into japan. There is a small market for high-end foreign cars (chiefly M-B, BMW, Cadillac-these are bought by the organized crime bosses (yakuza).
Another thing that you have to keep in mind is that GM (as well as Ford) does sell a very substantial number of cars in Germany. It’s just that almost all of them are made by the German 100%-daughter Opel and sometimes closely related to models of other GM brands. Officially these count as domestic cars. Chevrolets and Cadillacs are sold by GM as well but the other American brands are only available as “novelty” cars from specialized importers.
Actually the Americans are ahead of the Europeans for quality, ahead of the Koreans, and almost par with the Japanese, for cars built in North America. It’s pretty solid data from JD Powers from 3 months-in-service to 3 years in service, but it’s an internal link. Unfortunately tracking stops at 3 years, so there could be something to be said for long term reliability, and Consumers Reports does a good job tracking that.
I stress reliability above because reliability is not equal to quality. “Quality” encompasses a lot of attributes of any particular vehicle.
American cars passed European cars, quality-wise, a few years back. American cars have gotten better while the Europeans have been stagnant. Tellingly, within Daimler-Chrysler, Chrysler now has better quality than Mercedes! The Germans I’ve spoken to all seem to be in a state of deep denial about this, but the numbers are there for those willing to look.
All right you jokers, how about a little less yapping and a little more ignorance fighting? Can any of you guys give a conclusive answer to my question or what?
Ooooo-kay, and do they sell cars made by good honest UAW labour in the US/Canada? I realize the Mondeo was a fairly successful Ford model in Japan, but the Mondeo is made in Europe, not the US. Mazdas are obviously not made in the US.
So, the question, once again: A common meme being circulated is that the US automakers operate at a disadvantage when competing with the Japanese because they are “not allowed to export cars to Japan”. Is this true or isn’t it? Can GM LEGALLY AND WITHOUT PAYING UNREASONABLY HIGH TARRIFS set up a Hummer/Escalade dealership in Downtown Tokyo and start the rebate-and-0%-financing game over there, beating the Japanese on their own turf, or can’t they?
It’s also worth noting that GM has owned the British brand Vauxhall since the 20s, and has been happy to continue with the separate identities. Most Vauxhalls and Opels are basically identical cars.
Can any of you guys give a conclusive answer to my question or what?