Auto Industry Timeline

The Economy:

A doubling of the growth rate from 2 to 4 percent from 1915 to the 1920s²

Decling from 1920s to 1930s due to the great depression².

Preperations for WW2 brought Japan out of depression in the late 1930s².

Post WW2 Japan suffered from many different shortages of material and inflation of more than 100% characterized the years 1946-48².

1949 reccesion resulted from the strict laws of the General Headquarters of Allied Powers proposed to fight postwar inflation².

Orders from America during the 1950 Korean War brought Japan out of depression²

Between 1963 and 1970 output doubled².

Afterwords growth rate fell to around 4% until the 1990s².

General History:

With the financial backing of Shintaro Yoshida bicycle technician Komanosuke took an American engine and mounted to a homemade chassis creating a not yet road worthy automobile. Their efforts didn't stop there for, in 1907, commissioned by Imperial Prince Takehito Arisugawa³, they created the Takuri Type 3, with an American imported⁶, 12 horsepower, two cylinder water cooled internal combustion engine mounted under the seat it was the first Japanese one of its kind. Its name comes from a shortened version of the Japanese onomatopoeia for rattle as the car was thought to do such³. Together its creators founded Tokyo Motor Vehicle Works, Yoshida becoming president. A little over a dozen takuris were made but the Japanese people didn't care. This combined with military pressure forced the company to change to truck production¹.

Locomobile Company of America Agency: 1901 first car dealership in Japan⁵

1904 Torao Yamaba created a 10-person steam car which became the first all-Japanese vehicle on record¹. It was built with a 2-cylinder engine with about 25 hp. It had a drive chain and was 14.7 feet (4.5 m) long and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) wide⁶.

1911: Together with Tokyo Kinisue Motor Works, Tokyo Motor Vehicle Vehicle Works produced a luxery sedan the first 4-cylinder Japanese car⁶.

1911: By this year less than 50 cars had been made in Japan¹.

1923, September 1st, the great Kanto Earthquake devistate Tokyo and Yokohama. The need for vehicular transport of the injured it was decided to import 800 Ford Model T truck and convert them to buses. These buses were known as Entaro, after a popular rakugoka, a comical Japanese story teller³. The importation of these buses caused Ford to look at the Japanese market and set up a factory in Yokohama in 1925¹.

1927 GM arrives in Japan ¹.

1931 The Committee for the Establishment of Domestic Automobile Industry from¹

1932 Ishikawajima Automobile Manufacturing Company, the Tokyo Gas & Electric Engineering Company and the DAT Automobile Manufacturing Company formed the Domestic Automobile association.

1937 Five-Year Outline Plan for Strategic Industries of the Ministry of War targets a 270% increase in production by 1941.

In 1938, a General Mobilization Act brought about increased government control of Japan's industries

1938 "the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued guidelines restricting manufacturing to trucks only; production of passenger cars was canceled, with some exceptions." JAMA

The Big Three American companies discontinued production in 1939 and withdrew from Japan. Overall the productions levels were 208,967 American units sold to 12,127 Japanese units¹.

1941 petroleum exportation was banned from America. This was followed by bans on household and industry bans on its use as well a refitting of automobiles for other fuel sources.

Wartime Aftermath: The estimation of materials destroyed by the Allied Powers is about 1/4 Japan's wealth. This includes 1/3 of all industrial tools and almost 1/4 of rolling stock and motor vehicles. This isn't including their overseas investments. It is further estimated that rural liviving standards had fallen by 45% while non-rural stards had fallen 65%⁴. 1945-52: The occupation forbids travel abroad (until it was almost over), inhibits diplomatic relations and disallows any major political, administrative or economic decisions without the approval of the occupying forces. Though in theory the demilitarization and democratization was the burden of all of the allied powers it was general Douglas MacArthur that was named Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and he oversaw Japan and followed American Policy.⁴

1950 The Korean War breaks out and the Japanese auto industries is called upon to support America.

"With the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in September 1951, Japan was recognized internationally as an independent and sovereign nation." JAMA This put control of roads and transportation in the Japanese government's hands.

Japan Industrial Standards (JIS) regulations established in 1951

1954 A five year plan for road constuction was put forth and badly needed construction started.

Laws and Standards:

1918 Military Vehicle Subsidy Law: Amongst establising other things it required private owners to turn over their automotive vehicles upon demand of the government¹.

1931 "Ministry of Commerce and Industry Standard Model Automobiles"

Automobile Manufacturing Industries Act (1936)

"In October 1949, GHQ lifted its restrictions on passenger car production, and in November all controls on sales were abolished" JAMA

1949 Regulations passed to encourage the exportation of cars

1950 automobile tax establised

1951 Road Vehicles Act: Requires new vehicle types be approved by the Ministry of Transportation.

1952 The Industry Rationalization Promotion Law: Reduced taxes for chosen industries and made special, low-interest government loans available to them.

Nissan:

"Nissan was the first Japanese company to utilize assembly lines and mass production technology"¹

"By 1939 Nissan had produced a total of 17,781 vehicles, 75 percent of which were trucks."¹

1911: Masujiro Hashimoto founds the Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works in Tokyo.

1914: Hashimoto introduces his first car, the DAT with a four-cylinder, 2.0-liter engine.

1918: The Datson model is first produced.

1932: The Datson brand is changed to Datsun.

1933: The manufacturing and sale of Datsun cars is taken over by the Jidosha Seizo Company, Ltd.

1934: Jidosha Seizo changes its name to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Early 1940s:During World War II, the company makes military trucks and engines for airplanes and torpedo boats.

1951: Nissan becomes a publicly traded company.

1952: Nissan enters into a license agreement with U.K.-based Austin Motor Company Ltd.

1958: Export of cars to the U.S. market begins.

1966: The company merges with Prince Motor Company Ltd.

1981: The company begins changing its name from Datsun to Nissan in the U.S. market.

1989: The Infiniti line of luxury automobiles is introduced.

1992: The company posts the first pretax loss in its history as a public company; Nissan introduces the Altima small luxury sedan and the Quest minivan, the latter a joint development with Ford Motor Company.

1994: Nissan posts a loss of nearly US$2 billion.

1999: Nissan and Renault S.A. enter into a global alliance, with Renault taking a 37 percent stake in Nissan. A massive restructuring begins.

Toyota:

1918: Sakichi Toyoda establishes Toyoda Spinning & Weaving Co., Ltd.

1933: Automobile Department is created within Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.

1935: First Model A1 passenger car prototype is completed. The G1 Truck is also produced that year.

1937: Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. is formed. It was named Toyota because the Japanese writing トヨタ required 8 brush strokes (a lucky number) to write it as opposed to the 10 it took to write Toyoda (トヨダ).

In the early years Toyota relied heavily on imported parts¹

1938: Toyota impliments the kanban, or just-in-time production systems. This system required the employees to be trained in all the jobs just in case and all parts were produced so that they would instantly be used further down the line so as not to take up storage space¹.

1950: Toyota Motor Sales Co., Ltd. is established.

1956: Toyota creates the Toyopet dealer network.

1957: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. is formed.

1962: Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd. begins operations.

1982: Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merge to form Toyota Motor Corporation.

1995: Hiroshi Okuda becomes company president.

1997: The Prius, Toyota's first 'eco-car,' is launched.

1998: Toyota acquires majority share in Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.

Mitsubishi:

1917: The Mitsubishi Model A is the company's first autombile. 22 are manufactured that year and it is considered to be Japan's first mass produced car.

Works Cited:

1. James, Wanda "Driving from Japan: Japanese Cars in America" Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2005. OCLC: 53388346

2. Alexander, Arthur J. "Japan's Economy in the 20th Century" The Japan Economic Institute of America. August 2005. <http://www.jei.org/AJAclass/JEcon20thC.pdf>

3. "Toyota Automobile Museum" Toyota Motor Corp. 10/26/2007. <http://www.toyota.co.jp/Museum/data_e/a03_13_1.html>

4. Dower, John W. "Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War 2" New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1999. OCLC: 39143090

5. "An Overview. Japan's Auto Industry. About JAMA" Japanese Automobile Manufacturing Association. October 2007. <http://www.jama.org/about/industry.htm>

6. Ruiz, Marco "Japanese Car" Somerset, England. Haynes Publishing Group. 1988. OCLC 17579843