How Japan taught America to make small trucks
There was a time when trucks in America weren’t so massive, and it’s all thanks to Japan.
After the US introduced a 25% tariff on imported light trucks in 1964, American pickups were cut off from competitors in Europe and began to grow in size. But by the late 1960s, the Japanese auto industry was finally recovered from WIII, and Toyota and Datsun found a loophole to start selling their compact trucks to America.
Sales spiked, and Ford and GM quickly made deals with Japanese automakers to sell rebadged versions. The 1970s were an early golden age of small pickups in America—but it wasn’t going to last.
#trucks #pickup #history #explained #economy #market #cars #cartok #carenthusiast #ford #GM #toyota #datsun #nissan #mazda #1970s
10 Comments
I've always liked those little trucks. It's on my list to get one day. I hate the big new ones.
1973 was maybe the end of all things good about cars, yes we got much much better power, efficiency, faster, heavier loads, and more safe, but we lost the spirit for a moment, then it almost entirely dissapeared after the 2000's came around, yes the 1990's were an outlier but that is because of Japan, Japan is amazing, but there is an issue with everything, price, and… I know this is a bad idea to get cars involved in politics, but politics, they are weird
Ford has been teamed up with Mazda far longer then that,model t and model a parts have the Mazda badge in the molds
Would eliminating the chicken tax make any difference.
Ford and Mazda lasted in South Africa and other countries until like 2021, and Isuzu is still under the GM brand, just not in the USA.
Shipping the frames and putting the trucks together state side is supposedly why the Toyota truck of the old area’s rusted out so much, because they were exposed to ocean salt or something like that
Dropped my phone when he pronounced Hilux correctly
New trucks are like locomotives now. Way too big for trips to the grocery store.
So…..because fuel prices were high…..the auto industry lobbied the government to effectively ban compact trucks….in favor of their wasteful, fatassed giant trucks ?
Rather bloody stupid, I should say. Of course, the American auto industry is world famous for short-sighted, assinine, bloody stupid behavior….especially if it enhances their profits.
They (in USA) the chickens was disinfected with chlorine. In Europe nobody wanted to buy chicken meat that smelled like chlorine