Ford And GM Have Little Interest In Japan Despite Trump Talk

President Trump may want more American cars sold in Japan but it’s not just the locals who are resistant, Ford and General Motors have little interest in the market either.

At the Shanghai Auto Show, executives from both Ford and General Motors said it is too difficult to crack into the Japanese market with American cars and that money is better spent elsewhere, Automotive News reports.

According to the president of Ford’s Asia Pacific operations, David Schoch, the carmaker has no intention of returning to Japan after abandoning the market in 2016, no matter what trade deal Trump may sign with Japan.

“We’d been in Japan for well over 40 years, and we had been losing money. We continue to find it difficult to win that market. We concluded that our resources are better spent elsewhere.

“We would not go back, we have too many other priorities,” Schoch said.

In a similar vein, General Motors says it is content with its niche presence in Japan where it sold 1,228 Cadillac and Chevrolet vehicles last year.

“For us right now, we have a very stable presence,” Chevrolet’s global brand president Alan Batey said. “It’s not one with aspirations so big that it’s burning through a lot of cash.”

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