Why don't Japanese drivers buy US cars?

[Mordac]

True, but I bought a '77 Chevy Impala to travel round the States. While it wasn't the sort of car I'd drive here, I just loved that motor. The throaty roar as you floored it away from an intersection was to die for.

They're great on American roads where there are hardly any bends and no poxy roundabouts so it's no wonder they don't sell well elsewhere.

They do have some, they're called "rotaries" - Boston, for example, has a couple; scared the living crap out of me the first time I encountered one.

[jamesbrown]

Muscle cars are great, but they just don't work in the UK. Beyond that, US cars are generally terrible, particularly the interiors. Interestingly enough, there are some quality Japanese marques in the US market that aren't so common here, such as Infinity and Acura.

[DimPrawn]

Why don't Japanese drivers buy US cars? - BBC News

Because the vast majority of US cars are LHD only, and the Japs drive on the left like we do.

Duh. Usual thick BBC snowflake bollox.

[WTFH]

Because the vast majority of US cars are LHD only, ...

Apart from: Ford, Jeep, Chrysler, and GM.

I'm guessing you didn't bother to watch the article, poor little snowflake, in case it offended you.

The main reasons are: build quality is crap, the cars tend to be too big for Japan, and they tend to be uneconomical.

[LondonManc]

Muscle cars are great, but they just don't work in the UK. Beyond that, US cars are generally terrible, particularly the interiors. Interestingly enough, there are some quality Japanese marques in the US market that aren't so common here, such as Infinity and Acura.

Infiniti had a Q30 and a Q60 on display at the Trafford Centre the other week. The Q60 seems very much a TT competitor, but also more of an upmarket Celica - pretty much what you'd expect from Nissan's luxury arm.

Interesting thing about Acura is that they've not launched in Japan yet despite being Honda's equivalent of Lexus to Toyota; that said, their early brands in the USA were what we know to be Honda, such as the Legend, Integra and NSX.

The new NSX was unveiled last year - I wonder if we're going to get it badged as Honda or Acura?

[eek]

Infiniti had a Q30 and a Q60 on display at the Trafford Centre the other week. The Q60 seems very much a TT competitor, but also more of an upmarket Celica - pretty much what you'd expect from Nissan's luxury arm.

Interesting thing about Acura is that they've not launched in Japan yet despite being Honda's equivalent of Lexus to Toyota; that said, their early brands in the USA were what we know to be Honda, such as the Legend, Integra and NSX.

The new NSX was unveiled last year - I wonder if we're going to get it badged as Honda or Acura?

I think the clue is in the picture's file name (Acura NSX)

[LondonManc]

I think the clue is in the picture's file name (Acura NSX)

Erm, not quite. The Yanks got the original branded as Acura NSX while we got it as the Honda NSX. Nice try though slick.

[eek]

Erm, not quite. The Yanks got the original branded as Acura NSX while we got it as the Honda NSX. Nice try though slick.

So what brand in the UK gets it? A quick search tells me it's Honda for its on the front page of their websites

[lilelvis2000]

Someone near where I live has bought himself a new Mustang with RHD! Nice looking but I've no idea how they handle the tight twist and turns of village roads.

I think James May did a programme a couple of years back about the Japanese cars initial introduction into the USA, quite revealing.

[BoredBloke]

Every US-built car I've driven (hire cars only) has been terrible. The worst was a Chrysler convertible which was built from pig-iron, and handled like a trolleybus.
On our last ski trip to the States we had a big Mazda SUV, and it was fantastic.
Why would the Japanese buy an inferior product when they already build the 3 best selling cars in the US? Because they're not stupid.

According to Clarkson and co on the grand tour, the japs make the top 5 selling cars in the us.