Word: forde
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...long ago, selling American cars in Japan was downright quixotic. The U.S. vehicles were known for lousy quality, high prices and crummy service. But no longer. Hisashi Honma, a 22-year-old salesman at a Ford dealership near Tokyo, can't get enough Mustangs, Tauruses and Mondeos for all the customers who want to buy them. One ordered a European-made Ford Mondeo wagon last month, even though he will have to wait three months for delivery. In May, Ford imported 2,500 of its muscular new Mustangs; they sold out in two months...
...Three's old defeatist philosophy about selling cars in Japan was to keep the prices high and market the cars as novelties. But last year, when the yen rose sharply against the U.S. dollar, Chrysler and Ford could afford to cut prices sharply. To their surprise, sales of the popular Taurus doubled, and last month the Jeep Cherokee became the first U.S.-made model in Japan to rack up more than 10,000 sales in a year. Clearly the fussy Japanese buyer who demanded a museum-quality body finish is in retreat; in his place is a worker whose income...
...doesn't sell in Japan without a lot of legwork. Toyota, the top domestic automaker, fields about 50,000 door-to-door car salesmen outside of its 5,574 showrooms. In the face of such competition, the Big Three now have plans to do some marketing of their own. Ford is the most ambitious, aiming to capture 5% of the Japanese market by the end of the decade by importing 100,000 cars and manufacturing 100,000 more in Mazda's factories in Japan. (Ford is Mazda's main shareholder, with a 24.5% stake.) Konen Suzuki, who became president...
...success is signing up showrooms. Ford's Suzuki says he needs 700, an increase of 400, to reach his sales goal. Two years ago, he took control of a 284-outlet chain called Autorama, which he renamed Ford in May. The economy has helped him find more. Most of Japan's 17,423 dealer showrooms have exclusive ties to a sole Japanese carmaker. But the recession has put an unprecedented 41% of Japan's dealerships into the red. Some of the dealers believe adding foreign cars to their lineup can help bail them out. Says Atsushi Horigome, a Nissan dealer...
...vote turned out to be the best thing that could have happened - at least from the point of view of the insatiably curious. The Chicago team quickly rounded up support from private sources, including the Robert Wood Johnson, Rockefeller and Ford foundations. And freed of political constraints, they were able to take the survey beyond behavior related to aids transmission to tackle the things inquiring minds really want to know: Who is having sex with whom? How often do they do it? And when they are behind closed doors, what exactly do they...