GM and Volkswagen in Japan

08/21/96

Nikkei English News has reported that General Motor Corporation hopes to expand Saab sales in Japan. General Motors of Japan is in the final stages of negotiations to purchase rights to import and sell Saabs from Mizwa International Company.

Additionally, Saab's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore is formulating a marketing strategy for Saab in Japan. Plans so far include establishing a Saab Japan division within General Motors Japan Ltd.

Volkswagen AG announced its new Polo in Japan on Monday. The Polo is designed for young, first-car owners, in contrast to the family-oriented Golf. VW hopes to make the Polo its core model in Japan, and has set sales targets of 6,400 Polos by the end of the year, and 12,000 next year.

VW will market the Polo in three models: a three-door with five-speed manual transmission, a three-door with four-speed automatic, and a five-door with four-speed automatic transmission model. The manual transmission model won't be available until November.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel