🚖Japan offers proof of Jeep’s global appeal.
Jeep is a rare American success story in a country other U.S. car brands have all but quit. Granted, overall volume is paltry — just 6,344 vehicles were sold through August.
But in Japan’s tough import arena, Jeep keeps exclusive company. The iconic American off-road marque is consistently a top 10 foreign brand in the world’s third-largest auto market. In the first three months of the year, Jeep’s sales rose 6.9 percent, ranking it No. 7, mostly behind European luxury players.
The next-best Detroit contender, Chevrolet, moved just 373 vehicles — fewer than Ferrari. Even Lamborghini outsold Cadillac, which managed a meager 327. Last year, Ford Motor Co., battered by years of sliding sales, abandoned Japan altogether.
Yet Jeep has found traction in this vexing market, thanks to top-notch brand management and a willingness to cater to Japanese tastes.
“We have to spend money and engineering hours to do it, but we think it’s worth it,” FCA Japan CEO Pontus Haggstrom said at a Jeep showroom opening in this central Japan city this year.
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