Americans getting hosed

Japanese have restriction on importing American cars because there country is so small, at least thats one of the excuses. Yet the Japanese are allowed to dump cars in the US...its a double standard that the US politicians has abided by, but I guess it really comes down to who gets paid, how much and when. Those who actually really run the US auto industry probably won't bitch to much because they will never be hurting its the guy who works on the assembly line or the parts man who suffers.

In Japan, they drive on the right side of road, and driver sits on right side of car. American cars do not come in right side driver versions.

That's not the only place you won't see American cars. We spent a week in Costa Rica in 1991, and though there are VWs, little Dodge trucks (imports from Mitsubishi), Mercedes, Nissans (one of which we rented), and other foreign iron, we saw exactly three American cars in a week....a Pontiac hearse/ambulance, a Corvette, and one other US car. I don't even know if there are any dealers of American cars in San Jose.

left?

Cathy

side of road, and driver sits on right

Oops, you are correct. In Japan the driver is on the right side of the car, but they drive on left side of the road.

That makes buying an American car in Japan a bit unpractical.

Definitely. (Along with a lot of other countries, some of them large even by USian standards, FWIW.)

Mark, mate, before you visit *.JP and rent any vehicles, read a good road-rules handbook, okay?

I have been to Japan, Thailand, South Africa, UK, and other places where they drive on the left (but driver sits on the right). It was a simple mistake.

Oh, I knew that the Japanese drive on the left; thought it was prob. just a quasi-typo by the OP. (Meant to say one thing, but opposite appeared.)

Cathy

I'll bet the traffic copstables hear that one a lot. ;-) (Not to start a new topic, but apparently insurers handle some weird excuses, such as trees leaping out at cars.)

there ARE american cars sold in japan, with right hand drive. jeep, saturn, etc.

The point is that the vast majority of American cars are not offered in right hand drive. Mercedes, BMW, etc make right hand drive cars for sale in Japan and other places.

Most don't, but some do. I've seen many Chrysler products in the UK. In fact the 4WD Jeep Cheroke has been very popular there for years. The Neon, PT Cruiser and Van are also common in the UK. I believe they are sent as kits to a factory in Europe (Austria?) for final assembly.

My relatives in Japan have owned American cars since the 1950s.

Japan used to have severe restricti> > So, some of the niftier models stay in Tokyo. Couple that with the fact

All cars have safety glass, except for bulletproof ones, and I believe the safety standards are comparable to ours.