Review of Japanese motor industry

Press, Issue 33844, 16 May 1975, Page 12

Review of Japanese motor industry

More than 6.5 million vehicles were built in Japan last year, about four million being cars — a drop of 12 per cent on 1973, an annual review of the Japanese motor industry, just published, has revealed.

The review, produced by the Toyota company, says that although all Japanese manufacturers had lower production figures last year than in 1973, imports of cars into Japan rose by 24 per cent on the year before.

The Japanese tariff on imported cars is now 6.4 per cent, which is far lower than the 11 per cent levied by European countries. ;

At the end of the year, there were about 26.7 million vehicles on Japanese roads, and nearly 16 million of them were passenger cars. The Japanese motor industry now accounts directly for 1.51 million Japanese jobs, and if all related industries are considered, the industry gives employment to about 10 per cent of the entire Japanese labour force. The output of the motor and related industries is about 9 per cent of the country’s total production, and this points up the economic importance of the industry, the review says.

The oil crisis and the economic situation caused the drop in production in 1974, the first recorded

by the industry. and brought production back to 1969 levels. The best-selling car model in Japan, for the fifth successive year, was the Toyota Corolla, with more than 270,000 homemarket sales. The Nissan

Sunny was in second place. Among the 39,500 imported cars sold, Volkswagen was in first place with Ford second.

On the basis of countries, West Germany took 56 per cent of imported sales. The number of cars exported from Japan in knocked-down form, for overseas assembly, continued to rise, and accounted for 20 per cent of the 1.7 million cars exported. About 900,000. trucks and buses were also exported. The United States was the main export market, with 43.4 per cent of the vehicles sent abroad being sold there. But this compared with 44 per cent in 1973, and 51 per cent in 1972. Nissan held 35 per cent of the export market, Toyota 34 per cent, and other manufacturers the rest. This was a lower export share for Nissan and Toyota than in previous

years. Motor vehicles carry half Japan’s passengers each year, and 42 per cent of

the goods moved inside the country. The country has 27.2 million licensed drivers, which is one third of all those old enough to hold a licence. Three out of five men have licences, but only one out of seven women hold them. Motor vehicles in Japan are subject to nine kinds of tax, which bring the Government the equivalent of $6700 million a year. Manufacturers pav a> commodity tax (15 to 201 per cent) and dealers pay an acquisition tax (5 per cent). Buyers pay a weight tax ($26 per 500 kg), a mini-car tax on cars of less than 360 c.c. ($11.77 a year), an annual auto tax ($47 to $235), petroleum gas tax when L.P.G. is used as a fuel (4c a kg), a light oil tax (4c a litre), a local road tax (1.3 c a litre on fuel) and a petrol tax (7.6 c a litre). The review says that the world’s most produced cars are now the Corolla and the Datsun Sunny. The Volkswagen Beetle, the former leader, is now in fourth place, behind • Chevrolet. Japan now makes 19 per! cent of the world’s cars,! the United States 29 per! cent, and Common Market! countries 30 per cent.

The five biggest individual makers are General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, and Chrysler.