Import restrictions imposed in the early 1980s only delayed the trend. Toyota, Honda and Nissan -- dubbed the Japanese Big Three -- began building cars and trucks in the United States, and now these so-called transplants produce almost 27% of the cars sold in the U.S.
The American companies enjoyed a brief comeback when comparatively low gas prices lured consumers to the modern version of Detroit heavy metal: SUVs. But a return to high gas prices a few years later gave the edge back to the Japanese, with their reputation for fuel economy and their lead in bringing gas-sipping hybrids to market.
And now a new competitor looms across the Pacific.
"The Chinese are going to send cars over here, and we're overestimating how long it will take them to make a quality product," said Peter Morici, an international trade expert at the University of Maryland.
The Japanese and then the Koreans needed years to learn how to make cars good enough to grab a significant share of the American market, he said.
"It's not going to take the Chinese that long."
martin.zimmerman@latimes.com
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Down shift
*--* July sales % change YTD (In thousands from market of units) July '06 share GM 312.6 -22.4% 23.0% Toyota 224.1 -7.3 16.3 Ford 179.2 -20.0 15.3 Honda 141.0 -7.1 9.5 Chrysler 137.7 -8.4 13.1 Nissan 87.9 +1.7 6.5 Hyundai 43.5 -7.8 2.9 Kia 26.7 +1.0 1.9 Mazda 25.9 -0.4 1.9 BMW 24.3 +21.0 1.8
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Source: Autodata
