Meanwhile, U.S. industry leader General Motors sold only 587 Chevrolets and 449 Cadillacs in Japan, while Ford pulled out of Japan's tough market nearly a decade ago.
This is not only a disgust for the 2024 Mercedes-Benz foreign brand, selling over 53,000 cars, while BMW sold over 52,000.
“They don't take our cars, but we took millions of cars!” Trump said in April, accusing Japan of “very poor trade” against its allies.
To try and rev up the US auto industry, Trump has imposed a 25% levy on imported vehicles, in a major blow to Tokyo.Many people in Japan admire vintage US cars, but when it comes to new wheels, they hold more trust in domestic brands, Fukuda told AFP.West Coast hip-hop booms out at his shop Y-Tech, an incongruous slice of Americana amid the rice paddies north of Tokyo.
“Honestly, I think the problem is the size of the road. In his garage, 20 or so classic models in different recovery states include a silver-green 1970 Chevrolet Nova and a 1954 Buick Roadmaster.
But Fujian also drove the Hyundai SUV-A GM Yukon, which was two meters wide and “glued or packed” when parked on Tokyo's narrow streets.
He said that while some American cars are smaller, these brands are still an option for niche markets because “verywhere is sold or repaired”.
Yuka Fujimoto, a 42-year-old modeling agency manager, told AFP that she had never considered buying a U.S. car. In Japan, domestic automakers offer “a variety of lineups including families” that have “a poor sales of American cars.”
However, Trump believes that Japan is eliminating American cars with “non-tariff cheating.” This includes his “protective technical standards (Japanese bowling test)” on truth socialization last month.
Trump reportedly elaborated in 2018: “They took out a bowling ball 20 feet from the air and placed it on the hood of the car. If the hood is dented, the car is not eligible.”
An official from Japan's Ministry of Transport, responsible for safety standards, told AFP that the actual bowling ball was not used.
Meanwhile, Trump's automatic tariffs have brought about some changes, with Nissan last month revising plans to reduce U.S. production.
Meanwhile, Honda is moving its hybrid citizen model from Japan to the United States, saying the “single problem” didn't prompt the decision.
However, U.S. automakers still face growing demand from Japanese consumers.
Hisashi Uchida, a 56-year-old construction company employee, said his Toyota “has no special features, but it hasn't crashed.”
“Many American cars cannot be parked in multi-storey parking lots and they are not very fuel efficient,” he said.
Overall, “I don’t think our automakers really value it in the Japanese market, which is much smaller than their home market.”
By contrast, German car brands offer a better range, with their designs “better match the tastes of the Japanese.”
He added that Japanese cars travel on the left, unlike U.S. competitors, European automakers usually place the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicles for sale there.
That might be changing. GM's eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette has a right-hand drive in Japan for the first time. “I think it reflects the efforts of manufacturers and importers (for sale in Japan),” Misawa said.
