Japan’s Automobile Market in Troubled Times

Abstract

This chapter will investigate developments in the Japanese automobile market with regard to changing social and economic conditions over the last two or three decades. The research question is whether, and if yes, how the traditional national pattern of income distribution has changed, and how these changes influenced the market for automobiles. In particular, this chapter will examine what influence the financial crisis of 2008 had on Japan’s automobile market. However, more than in any other market and industry, developments in the automobile sector are determined by legal regulations in reaction to new social, environmental or safety requirements, by technical innovations, and by changing individual and collective attitudes and value perceptions towards cars, mobility and the modern lifestyle. Often in times of economic changes or crises, these factors coincide and accelerate development trends in the industry and the market. This has happened in the past, and there are signs that the financial crisis of 2008 might have boosted development of ecological cars and sustainable mobility, especially in Japan.¹