Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/12/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Nathan, I responded to this in more detail offline. I can't deal concretely with the "greater degree of goverment support" aspect because I don't have figures, but the Japanese government legislated support for the Japanese auto industry in ways Detroit could only dream of. Restrictive import and certification policies protected the Japanese domestic auto market from serious foreign competition, and an onerous vehicle inspection system ensured that Japanese consumers would regularly buy new autos. When your domestic market is protected and profitable, you can pour a lot of money into improving your product, as well as shaving margins on your export product to undercut local prices. That Toyota, Nissan and Honda took advantage of government largesse to improve their product and make it more competitive is laudable---I dread to think what US autos would be like today if the US gov't had protected Detroit in the same way. Cheers, PB On Sun, 13 Dec 1998 20:50:38 +0100, Nathan Wajsman <nathan.wajsman@euronet.be> wrote: [snip] >It is a myth that Japanese companies enjoy a greater degree of government >support than U.S. ones, perpetrated mostly by incompetent managers of declining >industries in the U.S. looking for an easy scapegoat. The car industry provides >a wonderful example [snip] Paul C. Brodek Kobe, Japan pcb@iac.co.jp