Japanese Car Market Soars
Japanese motor companies overtook the United States in car sales last year:
Japan has regained its position as the world’s largest car producer after 13 years. China ranks third following the United States and outdistancing Germany. According to statistics for 2006 published by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles on Monday, Japan overtook the U.S. by producing 11.48 million cars, up 6.3 percent from 2005 (10.8 million cars). Japan was the world’s top car-producing country from 1980 to 1993 but fell to second in 1994.
The U.S. slipped to second for the first time since 1994, producing 11.26 million vehicles. U.S. production decreased 5.7 percent from 2005 (11.95 million cars), registering a decrease for the fourth consecutive year. China produced 7.19 million cars in 2006, overtaking Germany, which manufactured 5.82 million cars, and becoming the world’s third-ranking car-producing nation. China’s production showed a sharp increase of 25.9% from 2005 (5.71 million cars). South Korea ranked fifth, producing 3.94 million cars, up 4.3 percent from 2005. France, the sixth-ranked country, made 3.17 million cars, down 10.7 percent from the previous year and lagging far behind South Korea.
Hopefully this will be a wake up call to the US automobile industry which appears to be poised to be by passed by China in coming years as well. What is interesting is that China manufacturing abilities are being aided through industrial espionage being committed in Korea:
State prosecutors yesterday charged nine former and incumbent employees of Kia Motors Corp., the nation’s second-largest automaker, for leaking core manufacturing technologies to China.
The illegal transfer would cause trillions of won in loss to the domestic car industry, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Five of them were arrested and indicted in the first industrial espionage case involving the automotive industry in Korea. Four others were charged without detention.
They are suspected of colluding to leak confidential data on nine separate occasions from Kia to a Chinese company since November. They received a total of 230 million won ($248,620) in exchange for the data, the prosecution said.
It seems like everything is made in China now a days so why not our cars as well seems to be the trend.
not a surprise with all the auto plants laying off workers and shutting down over the past 5 years
the only new car plants opening in the US are those of foreign automakers
The US auto industry's decline I think partly has the labor unions to blame and the industry's leaderships own incompetence in sticking to trying to sell SUVs to a dying market.
"The US auto industry’s decline I think partly has the labor unions to blame"
Ahem.. but you don't blame the shitty quality of American cars?
Hey, there's one. Look at one of them.. lack of interior/exterior appeal, very bad reliability, ugly seriously outdated styling, and BIG -everything has to be big. Bigger it is, better it is. Why are Americans so obsessed with bigness, I just don't get it.
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Hey, not all americans. I drive a cute little 4 cylinder japanese Eclipes. Very maneuverable. I zip around SUVs like their sitting still, and I don't have to worry about it flipping over. Six air bags in case some SUV looses control and rolls over me.
I see alot of small females like to drive SUVs. Drove from TX to TN yesterday. Not saying anything about size here, just what I saw.