Has Japan Lost the Auto Race?
Beyond the prospect of fewer cars per capita, there could also be a significant threat to luxury automotive brands. If you don’t own the car and will use it for only a single trip, you have little reason to care what make or model it is. Cars could cease to be status items, and the automobile market might well become commoditized. For these reasons
... See moreMartin Ford • Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
While the US runs persistent current account deficits, Japan runs persistent current account surpluses, which is how these substantially different NIIPs were built.
This will be interesting for the United States over the next decade. Unlike Japan, which funds its own fiscal deficits domestically, the United States has historically been partially rel
... See moreLyn Alden • Economic Japanification: Not What You Think
Toyota couldn’t afford those luxuries. In fact, during the postwar years, they couldn’t afford much of anything. They had to find ways to turn Toyota into a lean, mean, automaking machine with little margin for error.‡ Kiichirō, Eiji, and Ohno made three important decisions—three concepts that have become staples of successful manufacturing for ove
... See moreJohn Willis • Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge: How Deming Helped Win a War, Altered the Face of Industry, and Holds the Key to Our Future
These new elements I think I can without significant loss reduce to four: installment selling, the used-car trade-in, the closed body, and the annual model. (I would add improved roads if I were to take into account the environment of the automobile.)