While, Stateside, suburban soccer moms may still be plowing down narrow streets with their wide-berth S.U.V.s, a new generation of Japanese have deemed the car superfluous. The Wall Street Journal reports that many young Japanese have decided not to use a car, because it’s just not necessary.

While overseas car sales continue to thrive, Japanese automakers are trying new tactics to appeal to the kids at home.

From the WSJ:

"We are going to have to work hard to attract future generations of drivers -- people who find it difficult to love the car," says Francois Bancon, who heads a Nissan division charged with designing next-generation automobiles.

The auto industry’s appeal to youth, however, doesn’t seem to be working.

The WSJ reports:

Since the peak in 1990, Japanese car makers' domestic sales have dropped 31% to nearly three million automobiles in 2007, even as their exports rose 30% to 5.8 million vehicles.

Gas prices and an aging population are partly to blame, but there’s a greater change at work: young consumers don’t love cars as much as their parents did, concludes market research by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association and Nissan. “Having grown up with the Internet,” reports the WSJ, “they no longer depend on a car for shopping, entertainment and socializing and prefer to spend their money in other ways.”
Survey results show that Japanese youth aren’t begging for wheels, as in generations past.

From the WSJ:

A survey last year of 1,700 Japanese in their 20s and 30s by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's biggest business newspaper, discovered that only 25% of Japanese men in their 20s wanted a car, down from 48% in 2000. The manufacturers' association found that men 29 years old and younger made up 11% of Japanese drivers in 2005, roughly half the size of that group in 1993.

The trend may be taking hold elsewhere, too. Four years ago, Nissan surveyed 16-to-20-year-olds in Japan, the U.S., Europe and China on their feelings about cars. Their findings? “…Many youths world-wide felt cars were unnecessary and even uncool because they pollute and cause congestion,” Bancon told the WSJ. Youth in Tokyo were especially emphatic about not needing a car, as the city offers excellent (read: inexpensive and reliable) mass transit and ample Internet and computer access.

American kids may be catching on, as well, as fewer teens are applying for a driver’s license.

Photo via flickr by ionushu.

Comments (2)

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ryan said:

I live in Japan. While I can't argue with the statistics listed above, I do want to talk about my experience living here. I have lived in Toyota city (THE Toyota city) for the past 2 years. Cars are everywhere... traffic jams are a way of life here. Driving some 20 miles can take over an hour -- on a GOOD DAY! New car or old car, all cars contribute to traffic jams though. Let's look at the Japanese shaken system though. When you get a new car, it has three years of registration included. After three years, it will have to be checked every two years. These checkups include lots of fees and insurances, and roughly cost the owner about $800-$1000 (less for kei cars). While the public transportation system in Japan IS good, it is expensive as all get-out! It is MUCH cheaper to drive a car than to take the train. Many places in Japan make it necessary to own a car. You simply can't shop for groceries, go to the hospital, and get to work without one. While the country is more bike and train friendly than somewhere like America, it is by no means perfect. I have a hard time believing the above statistics, as most people I know will get in their car to drive even half a mile away. Some people (including my wife's family) will drive their car to somewhere that isn't even an eighth of a mile away. Maybe everyone is just buying used cars? I highly doubt that too, with all of the shiny new Lexus floating around Toyota city these days...

March 28, 2008

Josh said:

I guess it really depends on where you live in Japan. I was stationed in Yokosuka for three years. I never wanted a car there. There's no parking, the gas, taxes, TOLLS, are all super expensive. I remember being told that we Americans are considered "expert drivers," so we were almost automatically at fault in any wreck. Learning to drive takes a a lot more time and costs a lot more. A lot of our cities are so spread out cars are necessary, but their cities are compacted and built up. The best example I have is traveling from Yokosuka to the Narita airport near Tokyo. If you drive it costs approx. $80 US in tolls alone. The train was only about $25 US. Don't get me wrong I love being back in the US and having a car, but I do sometimes miss not really needing one.

March 28, 2008

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