Japan auto production tumbles again in May

that's what happens when your economy is export driven when the global economy tanks and the competition, mainly north american, produces quality vehicles. boo hoo japan.

Why would any patriotic American buy a Japanese car in this economy. Time to buy American Made by Americans. Party is over for Japan. Unless it has a Made in the USA and a Toyota America 100% owned by Americas sticker on it, sorry Japanese companies not going to buy it. The way Japan has done business in for years is going to come back and bite you in the axx. Even GM cars in Japan are sold under the Toyota brand so that Japanese people buy it. Well guess what, unless Toyota, Honda etc. are American companies, we are going to buy American first, and keep profits etc all in America. The party is over. Buy USA. Take care of us at home first.

American companies dont make quality cars, otherwise they wouldnt be in the strife they are in today. Every GM and ford car Ive owned that was built after 1980 has been absolute garbage, on the contrary every Japanese car Ive owned has been excellent. noborito, name 1 GM car that is sold under the toyota brand.

"we are going to buy American first"

That would be your made-in-America Toyota or Honda, not your made-in-Canada with made-in-various countries, anywhere-but-America, parts GM, Ford or Chrysler cars.

Plain and simple, American car makers build the best cars in the world and the Japanese cannot sell to that market any longer.

Dear Himasan, Cavalier (lift the hood and you see GM) it was an extremely popular car 5 years ago in Japan. It was sold under Toyota. I know, I own one.

"the competition, mainly north american, produces quality vehicles."

"Plain and simple, American car makers build the best cars in the world"

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.....

nobotito

in case you didnt know parts for cars are sourced from all over the damned planet, & GM Ford Chrysler have been putting together crap for the most part for decades, thats why foreign cars(even those put together in the states & Cda)havew done well, GM may not even be around much longer without massive handouts to then put put more crappy product, which you can go ahead & buy, how about a Pontiac, oh yeah those are going to the way of the dodo...........

I feel the J-market is rigged for the local makers but GM Ford etc need to make something at least half decent if they want to any biz outside NAmerica

TokyoHustla - Har!

Hahaha. Looks like Korea is doing what they planned. Beat Japan economically. N American makers weren't much competition with the crap they built. But Korean cars are up and coming. Cheaper and better warranties that the stubborn Japanese makers.

If Americans don't start buying GM cars quick the American taxpayer is going to take it in the axx. Just don't expect Toyota to take it lying down or quit for anyone on their long-term plan to dominate the American market or industry - end of story.

The issue is not really about the quality of vehicles. U.S. has over 10 percent unemployment rate and people are not spending money on the big ticket item. Also, company such as Toyota changed the loan requirements this year from 4 levels to 6 levels with top level around 24.99 percent annual interest rate. Also, the qualification to get a loan is more difficult. If you have less than 650 in credit ratings, most likely you cannot get a loan. Banks has to loosen the loan requirements to increase sales. This will not happen until the housing situation is stablized and it will take 3 to 4 yearsin the U.S. If the U.S. has healthy economy, others will follow.

@dontpanic; oh dear is right. i'm frightened of comments like this because they show how radically out of touch the public is about the quality of cars. north american makers are building fine cars and have been doing so even better than the japanese cars. this article is about buick having better reliability than lexus.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29771188/

and this is just one example of many clearly showing how north american cars do better than their japanese counterparts.

@GW; "I feel the J-market is rigged for the local makers but GM Ford etc need to make something at least half decent if they want to any biz outside NAmerica."

you have the first part correct, the local j-market is rigged for the local car makers, however as of very recent we can see many north american cars being driven around the tokyo metro area. many more than in the past.