European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 2, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                It s Tough enough to Arlve a Small japanese eat in Tokyo traffic. Nonetheless now the japanese want Large luxury cars and japanese ear manufacturers Are Rushing out bigger models As last As they can. Big car Boom in Tokyo by David e. Sanger new York times t was bound id happen. First he japanese got Rich. Then Hoy started taking longer vacations. Now they Are buying big cars big japanese made cars in Tokyo where in is virtually impossible to buy a fancy House with a big Lawn visible signs of wealth Are hard to find. A Large luxury car preferably one a mite bigger than your driveway is just the thing. Until recently. Though the Only status choices in the Homeland of the subcompact were Mercedes Benz models and Bow s. While the japanese Auto manufacturers have Long Renado big cars for their Home Market Thoy produced them in limited numbers for corp Ojalo heels and limousine services. But now Toyota Nissan and Honda Quick to sense Hal choir push to the High end of the Market in America would also work Here Are Rushing out bigger models As last Ashley can. The japanese people were frustrated Unpachi Awa. The manager of Nissan s product and Market Stia Legy said the of heyday As japanese workers on lunch break swarmed around Nissan s new models in a showroom across trom the company s Headquarters marvelling at the cars Roomy interiors. Ii they wanted a big car they had nothing made in this country to  but is Many of Awa s colleagues and competitors in fhe japanese automobile Industry acknowledge a big car Boom in Tokyo Borders on the ridiculous Japan after All is hardly the land of the open Road on Tokyo s tiny Back streets made Lor hand Earls rather Ihan fou doors Rush hour now spawns a thousand games of Chicken. When a $37,000 Cedric Cima by Nissan meets a $30.500 Honda legend Bolh Drivers stare each other Down until one Roleals and backs into an Alley. One of the most popular options on i to now models is a Button that swings the Sid View mirrors in so they am not sheared of by Telephone poles. Those cars May to awkward to drive in Tokyo and you May not use the Power of he engine said Masaru Inoue an executive at the Honda motor co. Who has recently resumed from a Long assignment in Paris and is seeing his Homeland with fresh orcs but Poorte want to have the Power even if they can t Uso it just the space alone seems a luxury in a City where Many people sleep in Luton closets he car can offer a rare time of Quiat and privacy. Some Young couples say they Don t mind the seven hour sunday night traffic jams in returning to Tokyo it is a rare moment to be alone. Of course by american standards Japan s big cars May not seem so huge. They Are More the size of a midsize american car. But by the standards of to japanese accustomed to cars Grace Lessly advertised As midget size they Are enormous. While no solid figures Are available for Overall sales of Large cars in Japan japanese Aulo magazines report that Toyota and Nissan s Domestic sales of the Largos cars those with engine displacements of More than two liners tripled in the isl six months of the year from the period in 19b7. Nissan says it is Selling 3.000 of ils new. Wide bodied Cimas every month. Sales of the Toyota Crown have been reportedly rising Al a similar Pace. And sales of the Honda legend introduced in Japan three years ago Rose to about 16,000 units last year from 1,000 units in its first year. Despite the recent Boom it is generally agreed that sunday october 2. 1988 big cars Slit account for less Ihan 10 por conf of Aulo sales in Japan which totalled six million units last year. The buyers Maikel researchers say Are not Japan s wealthy Young. They Are men 45 to 60, frequently store owners or the Heads of Small businesses. They love the size Awa said. We re beginning to think about introducing much bigger cars maybe with four liter engines in a Lew  what would pave Tho Way Lor such introductions which Are also being considered by Toyota Honda and Mazda is a major change in Japan s commodity lax Law which puts a 23 percent surcharge on Large cars but Hal Law was enacted when fhe Only Largo cars Here were foreign. Now As one business Leader said the other Day it s Lime to  in fact Tho re evaluation is All but Over. While parliament Debales a broader restructuring of Japan s Ian Syslo in is an open secret thai the Auto tax Deal is clinched.  say that in the next year or two the lax will drop to 6 percent no matter what the size of Iho car. That move has Boon welcomed by Mercedes Benz and Bow. Both companies have watched their Market share stank As Japan s Aulo giants moved into the High Price High profit luxury car Markel. Bui sales of Mercedes and Bow continue to climb in this country together Thoy sold More than 70.000 cars in Japan last year up nearly 50 percent from 1986 because the Markel is expanding so rapidly. For japanese Auto makers nervous Hal the Strong yen is making them less competitive in world markets the big car Boom is a Savior ii allows much larger economies of scale. For we first Lime we can sell in Japan the same models we Export to the . And  a Nissan executive said. Before we could Only do that with  the stars and stripes Page 17