U.S. cars excluded from Japan's cash-for-clunkers program

[Nagishkaw 510]

The good news for automakers is that Japan is mounting its own cash-for-clunkers program. The bad news is that foreign automakers -- like Ford and G.M. -- are effectively excluded, even though half the vehicles bought under the U.S. program were Japanese.

Not amused, the American Automotive Policy Council, which includes Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, criticized the policy as "outright discrimination," the Detroit Free Press reports. The Obama administration called on Japan to open up its program.

The paper calls the complaints "more about symbolism than sales" since Detroit sells only a handful of vehicles in Japan and have no North American-built vehicles designed to appeal to Japanese customers or meet strict Japanese fuel economy rules.

So far, Detroit automakers have sold 7,901 cars and trucks in Japan through November of this year, while Japanese automakers have exported1.3 million vehicles to the United States.

Under the U.S. cash-for-clunkers program, Japanese automakers claimed 319,342 of the 677,017 vehicles sold, according to federal data.

Of those, about 115,400 were imported from Japan; the rest were built in North America, the newspaper says.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/on...kers-program-/1

[GabiandVi 34]

No doubt it is true that only a fraction of all cars sold in Japan are American designed/built, so including them in the program would not negatively affect the sales of Japanese cars. It seems like a simple thing for Japan to do and it wouldn't cost them anything.

[slim 1,525]

It seems like a simple thing for Japan to do and it wouldn't cost them anything.

Sure it would! For every American car purchased, a Japanese car would still be sitting on the lot or in the factory. At least, that's what the big stink about Japanese cars here was about.

And anyway, why is it wrong for other countries to discriminate against us? Since when do they have the duty to appease us?

[thongd4me 69]

When my fiancées girlfriend drove us from BKK to Hua Hin in October 2009, I was FLOORED that the young lady was driving a compact CHEVY!

She said it was a good price and she liked the style. Almost EVERYONE in Thailand drives Japanese cars...

[mawilson 2,133]

And anyway, why is it wrong for other countries to discriminate against us? Since when do they have the duty to appease us?

Since our own cash-for-clunkers program was essentially a US government handout to Japanese car manufacturers.