How does Japan build a collaborative system for automotive export?

In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan’s automobile industry achieved a transition from being primarily focused on domestic production to becoming a major exporter to the world. Export volumes rose from 190,000 units in 1965 and 1.09 million units in 1970 to 6.73 million units in 1985. Companies such as Toyota and Nissan moved into the leading ranks among global automakers, forming a comprehensive competitiveness system that covered everything from R&D, to parts supply and component support, to complete-vehicle manufacturing, and overseas sales. This achievement was not accidental, but the result of coordinated support from the Japanese government, the automobile industry, and society as a whole.

For Japanese automakers to “go global” in the auto industry, it was not only the result of individual company competition, but a systematic effort jointly driven by multiple parties, including the government, industry associations, general trading companies, financial institutions, consulting firms, and logistics systems. Its core was the establishment of a working mechanism built on government–industry collaboration, the integration of industrial and financial resources, and support across the entire value chain—ultimately forming an internationalized cooperation-and-promotion model that can be drawn upon. At its essence, it is also a concentrated embodiment of the “Japan model.” Its core experience lies in: the forward-looking nature of industrial policy, the flexibility of corporate organization, the coordination of relevant stakeholders, the cohesion of social consensus, and the ability of the group to learn and adapt collectively in a changing environment. Although the historical context has changed, the framework of systematic support for industrial internationalization still has reference value to this day. To this end, this article provides a systematic analysis of how, in the early stage of Japan’s automobile export drive, various stakeholders in Japan formed a concerted force to push Japanese automobiles onto the world stage.

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