2009 Japanese Sales Totals

No, a huge tax on all cars based on weight. There is no "special tax" for US cars. Please re-read what I wrote. This applies to ALL CARS. There are Japanese cars that fall into these tax brackets too - but they`re not the models that sell. (Probably because the taxes are expensive and the cars are large)

The tinier and lighter the car, the lower the tax. The larger and heavier the car, the higher the tax. It doesn`t matter where the car is built - any costs on that end are in the purchase price, etc. There are small foreign cars that fit into low tax brackets, just not many of them. Usually, for size, the US cars tend to be heavier and have larger engines... And therefore fall into a higher tax bracket. (SUVs can even fall into the "truck" level tax bracket, as it is based on size, weight, and engine)

Even in the lowest tax brackets, the tax is still expensive. It`s applied to all cars and is measured in the same way for all makers, regardless of where they are.

I take it you are of the camp that thinks Japanese laws and regulations regarding vehicle size, weight, etc, should be ignored in favor of US cars because they can`t be bothered to make many that fit within them? That they should get a special pass, unlike everyone else, because they are made in the US?

 

I think you might find it is a huge tax on huge cars. As has been said earlier, Japan make cars Americans want, America doesn't make cars Japanese want. What is so hard to grasp about that? If it really is a "closed" market how do the few imports get in? I suspect those American cars sold into Japan and purchased by people who overdosed on hot dogs and apple pie while watching John Wayne movies in their childhood.

If I offered you a dog turd or an apple which would you pick? What about if I offered you the dog turd for less and it was twice the size of the apple?

Trouble is, waving the US flag might sell American cars in America but outside the USA it has little influence on the market. Have a look around your dealership and tell me you don't try to appeal to people's national pride to sell them an American car. You'll likely even hoist the stars n stripes over a car made in Canada or Mexico I bet.

 

That is sales tax though - not ownership tax which I was referring to. Ownership taxes have nothing to do with import or not. It`s size, weight, etc.
As for show rooms, when it comes to new cars dealerships do not share. I don`t know how the US model of dealerships works, but in Japan it is one maker per dealership. The dealership is pretty much run directly by offshoots of the maker company, so of course they would not sell another maker`s cars there. There are no independent dealerships offering a mix of cars. (Unless used, but that is a different thing altogether.)
If there were dealerships offering a variety of Japanese makers, and blocking out imports - I would see your point. But a Toyota dealer sells only Toyota, a Honda dealer only Honda, etc etc. They do not mix - who would sell a competitor`s products?

Are US dealerships mixed? Or perhaps independent of the maker companies?

In my opinion, I think it would be very hard for a US maker to really gain a foothold in the Japanese market just because of the difference between the markets. It is not profitable to make cars aimed only for the Japanese market at the current level of sales, but with the current line up it is pretty close to impossible to increase the level of sales... So there is a sort of catch-22. I don`t think US car makers can afford to lose a lot of money to try to make things that may appeal to a market... that is already flooded with locally made things that already have appeal.
I believe the US should focus on making locally made things appealing to buyers in the US. Harder said than done, but at this point I don`t think Japan is so much of a competitor when it comes to prices though... It is costly to produce things here. China and the like are the places that are really causing problems with very low priced goods. Things are no different in Japan, where the market is full of cheap things produced in China...

 

Sales Totals

You'll have to paint the dog turd in order to put a Dodge badge on it now though...

How much of a rebate...

 

FYI,
Following is vehicle import duty list.

• Japan: 0%
• US: 2.5% (passenger car), 25% (SUV/truck)
• EU: 10%

Ken@Japan