U.S. Carmakers Increase Outlets in Japan Slowly

09/17/96

Nikkei English News has reported that Detroit's Big Three U.S. automakers are struggling to increase their marketing networks in Japan, and may not meet U.S.-set targets for expansion.

The U.S. called on the Big Three to have 200 sales outlets in Japan by the end of 1996 in the auto trade agreement it made with Japan last year. By the end of July, however, the carmakers had only 106, according to the the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA).

In August, when sales of new U.S. releases slowed, GM and Ford added only two sales outlets. The AAMA figure represents contracted outlets, including those that have not yet opened, like GM's Saturn dealerships, which it will open next Spring.

In Japan, Ford Motor Co. Ltd. remains optimistic. A Ford Japan official said the U.S. carmaker had opened 17 new outlets since the U.S.-Japan agreement was signed, "and since May 1994 when we started to expand our network, we have signed up with 67 new dealers, which is not a bad figure," he said.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel