Manufacture Of Small Passenger Cars example essay topic

The Road to Japanese Automobile Manufacturing Dominance Japan was devastated at the end of World War Two. Although the automobile industry wasn't as heavily hit as some of the other industries, there were some severely hindering effects on production. Steel and other materials were difficult to obtain causing production to drop 50% by the end of the war (Chao, 1997). Now they are the leading automobile manufacturers in the world. Japan is the epitome of car manufacturers. Japan had a big ditch to dig themselves out of.

First of all to enter into any kind of production they had to get permission from the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers of G.H.Q. This entity regulated trade of the Japanese until 1955. They allowed for as many as thirty manufacturers to enter the production of trucks in 1945, and in 1947 as the ambitions of the industry increased they allowed manufacture of small passenger cars (although limited to only 300 cars per year). With such small potential for production there was mass unemployment and the manufacturers had to take on the repair of their own damaged vehicles. Consequently, in 1949 with the tight government finance and banking policies adopted (to suppress inflation) Japan was hit with a massive recession. It was a real blow to the automobile industry; manufacturers had to cut wages and layoff workers. From 1949 to 1950 employment in the automobile industry was slashed by 23% (6,200 people).

The labor unions confronted the management of the car makers, and all the manufacturers were hit with the longest strikes in Japanese history. Japan struggled through the early 1950's, and in 1955 the "Post-War Era" officially ended. With the G.H.Q. out of the picture the Ministry of Transportation announced the People's Car Plan, which gave Japanese auto manufacturers an excellent opportunity to develop new original cars of their own. The plan was eventually be scrapped because the manufacturers thought that proposal's requirements would be "impossible to manufacture with the performance and sales price requested" (Shimokawa, 1994). The People's Car Plan did influence competition to market new products and it gave primarily three-wheeled vehicle makers a way to enter the four-wheel market. Suzuki, Fuji (Subaru), Mitsubishi, and Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) all entered small cars into the market almost immediately.

Moreover, the first two small cars that really made a name for themselves were the Toyota Corona and the Nissan Bluebird. Of course 90% of these cars were used for business (Rinehart, 1997). The cars were used almost exclusively as commercial vehicles like taxis or hired cars. These trends would not continue. As the income of Japan started to rise, the car purchases for individual use increased. In 1955 only 25.2% of the total cars sold were for personal use, in 1958 54.5% of the cars sold in Japan were for individuals.

With the increase in sales, investments for new factories were made. Along with the new factories came new innovations in production. For instance, the use of machines devoted to making mostly engine parts like cylinder blocks, and cylinder heads. Also there were factories being built exclusively for passenger cars whereas before they had to share the production line with trucks. That system when put under strain of the production increase needed replacement quickly. Furthermore another step in Japan's road to automotive excellency was the shift towards total domestic production.

Many Japanese automobile producers had been tied to European manufacturers. Some examples are Nissan-Austin, Isuzu-Hillman, and Hino-Renault. Also starting in 1955 Japanese car makers started to acquire technologies that would help the Japanese produce cars independently. There were moves made to discontinue tie-up arrangements, and by 1965 the era of technological tie-ups had ended.

More things were done than domesticating production. New advertising schemes and public relations stunts were implemented. The first Tokyo motor show was inaugurated in 1954. It was decided that it would continue annually.

The show helped demonstrate Japanese car performance and stimulate new international demand. In addition, manufacturers came up with other promotional ideas. Like the 50,000-KM trek from London to Tokyo, thus the rest of the world got to see what Japan had to offer (Cole, 1981). In the early 1960's manufacturers began to extend warranty period on their automobiles to reflect confidence in the new automotive technologies. Also banks began to give auto loans more frequently as part of new consumer finance services. Consequently, a rapid expansion of motorization began, starting in around 1965.

In the ten years between 1967 and 1976 cars owned by Japanese jumped from 10 million to 30 million (Chao, 1997). This happened in the United States during the 1950's. The cars owned jumped from 10 to 20 million, but consider that Japan's population was half that of the United States, then you truly get the big picture. It was truly a major boom in consumption. During the mid to late 1950's the major consumption items were TVs, washing machines, and refrigerators. These gave way to cars, color TVs, and air conditioners in the 1960's.

These new rises in living standards were also enhanced by increased opportunities for leisure travel; there was a sharp increase in Japan's road network. Road improvement from the mid 1960's to the mid 1970's laid the groundwork for the accelerated development of Japan's road infrastructure. National highways covered 181 km in 1964, but that figure increased to 1,519 km by 1974. Also the number of drivers licenses issued for driving passenger cars went from 9 million in 1965 to 22.9 million in 1974.

The cars that were taking the people everywhere were the small comfortable, convenient cars at affordable prices based on the people's car plan that was mentioned earlier. They were 600 to 1200 cubic centimeter displacement motors. They were less expensive than standard size cars, and they offered higher performance, comfort, and style than midget cars that were also popular at the time. They were cars with modest prices, but with the feel of high-end deluxe passenger cars. They were a huge success. Sales surged from 97,000 units in 1965 to 780,000 in 1970.

During this time there were new developments in passenger car production. First of all, they were beginning to make small high performance cars. (One example being the rotary engines by Toyo Kogyo, used in the Mazda RX 3 and the RX 7's to come). Also they wanted large size passenger cars that could compete with foreign made passenger cars (and could be imported into the United States where bigger cars were more popular).

Japan was rapidly becoming an economic power. In 1962 Japan ranked sixth in the world in automobile production. In 1963 they jumped to fifth, and in 1964 was fourth, overcoming Italy then France. Japan then overtook the United Kingdom in 1966 to take third place, and followed suit in 1967 to surpass West Germany to rank second behind the United States (Gent her, P.A., 1997).

All of these changes and innovations made Japan jump six places in five years, that kind of rapid change could almost be considered an industrial revolution. It would take a little more time and some different methods to become number one in the world. The gas crisis of the 1970's probably helped Japan in its quest for number one. Tighter emissions and sky rocketing gas prices prompted Americans to get rid of their big engine gas hogs, and opt for cheaper more fuel efficient cars from Japan. The Japanese continually progressed in fuel-efficient technologies.

This helped Japan become the leading automobile producer in 1980. Now with the demand for larger vehicles increasing the fuel consumption per vehicle is also increasing. Which means that pollution will increase. To counter act the negative effects cars like the Honda Insight are being introduced. This is a hybrid vehicle, a car that runs off regular gasoline and also electricity. It can run over forty miles per gallon of gasoline.

Some hybrid vehicles have been developed to convert braking energy into electricity or hydraulic pressure. There are also more fuel saving technologies other than hybrid, such as lean burn, and miller cycle engines. There are vehicles being produced that are entirely run on electricity. There are approximately 2300 electric vehicles on the road today in Japan.

Some vehicles operate on Liquefied Petroleum Gasoline (LPG). There are approximately 300,000 LPG- equipped vehicles, mostly urban taxis in use in Japan today. Automakers continue to direct research into methanol, ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, and solar propellant technologies. In addition the Japanese auto industry is actively reducing the consumption of CFCs and started to recycle parts and materials.

Alternative cleaning and foaming agents replaced all CFCs used in the manufacturing process by 1993. In recent years 4 to 5 million automobiles are scrapped annually in Japan. Presently 75% of a motor vehicle can be recycled (Cole, 1981). The Japanese auto industry is trying to increase that figure by making cars easier to dissemble, making plastic parts that can be more easily identified and selecting appropriate materials to promote recycling.

These methods help sell to environmentally conscious citizens. There are a lot of people who could care less about the environment, they just want to go fast. Most of these people can't afford a Porsche, but they can afford a Japanese import that is easily modified. There are dozens of companies devoted to making parts for small Japanese cars.

You can see economical Honda Civics with turbo or superchargers, nitrous oxide boosters. Pretty much anything you can think of you can get for a Japanese import. So for half the money you can buy a small "family car" and make it run with European super cars. There are whole groups of automobile owners who modify and race sport import cars. It's a big business and the Japanese automobile industry really benefits from it.

Now they even donate cars to some of the tuning companies to have them modified to create attention for the car (this is an especially popular method in cars that just come out). Therefor over a period of 35 years Japan has raised like a phoenix out of the tatters of war. There are many ways how Japan has become clearly the most dominant Auto Producer in the nation..