The Birth of Japanese Car Imports in the United States: From Disasters to Dominance
When did Japan start selling cars in the US? The journey of Japanese car manufacturers, specifically Toyota and Nissan, marked a pivotal chapter in automotive history. This article delves into the early struggles and eventual triumph of Japanese automakers in the American market, highlighting key moments that shaped the future of the industry.
Early Challenges: The Rise of Toyota in 1958
The early 1950s saw Japan begin to open its doors to the global automotive market. It was in 1958 when Toyota made its way into the United States with the introduction of the Toyopet. However, this debut did not go smoothly. Many Toyopets quickly succumbed to issues of poor quality, reliability, and rust, particularly in northern states.
One of the first models to hit the US market was the Toyopet in 1957, later rebranded as the Toyota Crown. This vehicle shook at high speeds and tended to overheat, earning it a rather unceremonious debut. Sales were modest in the first year, with only a few hundred units sold, and improved slightly in the following year to a few thousand.
Nissan's Early Success: The Datsun Bluebird
Scientifically, Japan's automotive exports to the US gained momentum a year later with the arrival of Nissan's Datsun Bluebird in 1958. Nissan initially focused on the commercial sector, especially with their Datsun pickup trucks. By 1967, Nissan had managed to achieve a noteworthy sales milestone, selling a total of 100,000 cars in the United States. The following year, their sales surpassed the 50,000 mark, signaling a significant shift in market perception.
Quality Benchmark and Industry Transformation
As Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Nissan persisted and improved their quality, they began to set new benchmarks for automotive excellence in the US market. By 1986, the import sales of Asian cars reached an all-time high of 4.1 million units, marking a profound change in the American automotive landscape.
There is an old saying that perfectly captures the dynamics of market entry: "It is difficult to get a camel out of the tent once you have allowed it to get its nose under the tent’s edge." This phrase aptly describes the journey of Japanese car imports. Once they had established a foothold, the floodgates opened, leading to a significant shift in the automotive industry.
The success of early models like the Toyopet and the Datsun fed into a larger revolution in quality and design. By the mid-1980s, the "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) were in catch-up mode, undergoing a design and quality revolution that continues to impact the industry today.
Today, it is remarkable that almost half of the cars on the road in the US are from Asian manufacturers, marking a seismic shift from the early struggles to the current dominance of Japanese and other Asian automakers in the American market.