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Question: To what extent have Japanese automobile manufacturers been able to retain their competitive position as multinationals in international markets? Answer: Since 1960 Japan has been within the worlds top 3 largest car making counties, in the technology and the automobile manufacturing Japan has secured a status of being a world leader. Some of the most well-known brands that have a global fame are Lexus, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda and Toyota. These brands are the most famous and are the major car exporters. The important part is that Japanese automobile components are found to be manufactured in over 6 continents. 89 percent of the automotive related manufacturing contributes to Japans largest manufacturing sector. Vehicles and the automotive components amount to 18 percent of all the manufacturing related shipments in Japan (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association 2018a). This study is based on the extent to which the Japanese automobile manufacturers have been able to retain the competitive position as the multinationals in the international markets. History of Japanese automotive industry- In the year 1907, Komanusuke Uchiyama manufactured the first true Japanese car. Torao Yamaha, in the year 1904 built the first bus in Japan which had a seating capacity of 10 people. Large number of companies along with the support of the Imperial Army and Japanese government started the manufacture of military trucks just after the end of World War I (Koichi and Barker 2014). This venture eventually led to the foundation of automobile companies like Nissan, Toyota. This eventually led to the beginning of automobile industry in Japan. In the year 1933 a weaving company called Toyota Jido Shokki founded an automobile department and named it as Toyota. Nissan also developed a growing company and named it as Nihon Sangyo in the same year. During the period of World War II, Japanese automobile industry was mainly producing industrial truck, buses and as well as military trucks. Whereas, after the World War II the Japanese automobile companies wher e allowed to make limited number of trucks. At that time Toyota lost all its money and became bankrupt. The company Toyota however revived from the losses during the Korean War. It was given contracts for the manufacture of military vehicles and its repairs (Toyota 2018). In the year 1955 the manufacture of Japanese car increased. Restrictions imposed by the government on the import of vehicles. At that moment Japanese car market was not large and that it was not opposed internationally. In the year 1953 number of vehicles manufactured where 10000 and it's doubled in the year 1953. During the 70s Japanese automobile were not popular, however due to low price and superb quality the vehicles slowly grabbed attention (Koichi and Barker 2014). In the year 1973 due to the oil crisis the popularity of the Japanese automobiles reached the pinnacle due to fuel efficient and small engine. During the year 1970, in US and Britain the popularity of Japanese automobile increased. Nissan was a popular brand in Britain, while Honda and Mitsubishi where the popular brands in US. During this period, the export of the Japanese automobiles reached to great heights. By the year 2000, Japan became one of the largest manufacturers of automobiles due to affordable and cost- effective manufacturing. Even though the Japanese car industry was facing fierce competition from countries like India, China, South Korea still the car industry continued to thrive (Picken 2016). Japans Automobile industry (latest developments) - An automobile typically consists of 20 thousand to 30 thousand parts which is impossible for even the largest automobile manufacturer to produce themselves. Thus, the automakers either purchase the final products or outsource them. These components include audio systems, air conditioners, batteries and tires. The finished products which were purchased by the automobile manufacturers include the products which were manufactured in different countries and the volume of purchase of the final products increases every year. Thus, automobile manufacturing can be considered as an integrated industry and the investments in the research activities, components are marked as an indicator of the quality of economy. The automotive industry of Japan is one of the core industrial sectors of Japan's economy (Export.gov 2018). In the year 2014 the total export of Japanese vehicles accounted to 17.5%, and 40% is the total value of the components shipp ed. The automotive shipment included both the export and domestic shipments and the vehicles exported include auto parts and motorcycles. In the year 2014, the value of the total shipment totals around 53.3 trillion Yen. While in comparison to 2013, the total shipment of 2014 increased by 2.6%. The automobile production in Japan in the year 2016 was 9.2 million units, which was 0.8% less than 2015. Passenger car production increased to 0.6% in comparison to 2015 send the total units produced is 7.87 million. The small car and standard card production increased 3.5% and 5.4% respectively, and 1.61 million and 5 million units were manufactured respectively. While at the same time the production of mini cars reduced by 7.4% and about 1.26 million units were produced. Violin comparison to 2015 the production of bus and truck decreased by 5.9% and 8.3% respectively. The total units of bus and truck produced were 130 000 and 1.2 million respectively (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Associa tion 2018b). Motor vehicles export in the year 2016 increased by 1.2% in comparison to the year 2015 and 4.63 million units were sold. The export of passenger cars increased by 3.7% and a total of 4.12 million units were exported. Whereas, the export of bus and trucks reduced by 6.8% and 17.7% respectively. The units of buses and trucks manufactured were 132000 and 384 000 units respectively. An increase in the export of motor vehicles to countries like Oceania, North America, Asia, Europe. In comparison to 2015 the export of motor vehicles in the year 2016 and climbed up. Data reveal that there is an increase in export and the percentage of increase in different continents were: in Europe it is 11%, in Asia it is 10.9%, in North America it is 8.6%, and in Oceania it is 0.7% (Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2018). Whereas the export to the Middle East has declined by 26.9%, in Africa by 20.1%, in Latin America by 5.0%. Export of motorcycles in 2016 increased by 2.6% in comparison to the previous year and the total number of motorcycles manufactured were 429000 units. With respect to the engine capacity, the export of class 1 and small sized motorcycles increased by 36.3% and 2.3% respectively. The number of class 1 and small sized motorcycles exported were 16000 units and 323000 units respectively. Whereas, the export of class 2 and mini sized motorcycles reduced by 2.1% and 0.1% respectively, and the total number of units exported 30000 and 60000 units respectively. In comparison to 2015, the export of motorcycles to the Middle East and Europe has increased by 19.6% and 17.8% respectively. Whereas, the export to Latin America has reduced by 37.1%, in Oceania by 0.4%, in North America by 3.1%, in Africa by 8.4% (Eurostat 2018). Environmental concern and compliance- In the year 2015, the carbon dioxide emissions in Japan was 1.22 billion tons, among which the percentage contributed by the transport sector was 18%. Since the year 2001, the carbon dioxide emissions has reduced to a great extent due to the usage of fuel efficient passenger cars. Automobile industry of Japan promote carbon dioxide reduction by increasing the production of next generation and fuel efficient vehicles. Following 2009, the Japanese government introduced subsidy programs and tax incentive programs all the purchase of environment friendly vehicles. The environment friendly next generation vehicles included new energy, clean diesel, and fuel cell, electric, plug in hybrid, and hybrid vehicles (Ehsani, Gao and Emadi 2017). The introduction of next generation vehicles led to a surge in the purchase of passenger cars. The Japanese Automobile Manufacturer Association (JAMA) voluntarily negated the usage of hazardous substances like cadmium , hexavalent chromium, Mercury and lead in the new vehicles in order to reduce the environmental impact. The greatest danger arises when these vehicles previously dismantled after the end of service life. Thus, the voluntary action by JAMA proved to be effective. In the year 2012, in order to reduce the volatile organic compounds in passenger cars, ISO 12219-1 was established as a global standard. JAMA effectively implemented these standards in the buses, trucks and passenger vehicles in order to reduce the volatile organic compounds. However, the voluntary initiative taken up by JAMA was restricted to vehicles that were manufactured only in Japan (Yamada 2013). The vehicular exhaust emissions in in Japan is one of the world's most stringent and due to this the automobile manufacturers work hard in order to develop technologies that comply with the stringent laws. Due to these reasons the levels of atmospheric pollutant and NOx steadily declining in the urban areas of Japan. According to the ministry of environment recommendations and policies the future emission laws will be even stricter with respect to the diesel and gasoline vehicles. Japan's local government as well as the central government in the major Metropolitan areas have implemented laws that will address the problems related to air quality which is caused by two vehicle emissions. Thus, the automobile manufacturing companies need to comply with these laws at the time of inspection in order to receive the inspection compliance certification. Local governments also implemented laws and regulations in order to reduce particulate matter emissions from the trucks. This implies that t he regulations will put a check on the movement of these vehicles in the concerned areas (Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan 2018). Strategies implemented- Japanese automobile manufacturers have developed and extended its Global operation through joint ventures or fully owned subsidiaries. The Global operations Japanese automobile manufacturers are found in countries like Russia, China, Southeast Asia, Europe and United States and other emerging markets in different countries. The expansion of business outside Japan creates opportunities through employment creation, earning from export revenue for the host country, purchase of local parts, locally produced parts like engine and transmission of automobiles, and also strengthens the local economics. The finished vehicles can also be transported to other countries and also in Japan. The Global manufacturing operations of Japanese automobile sector continues to grow by emphasizing on the onsite manufacturing in order to meet the local needs (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association 2018b). Whether as a fully owned subsidiary or as a joint venture, the independent o perations were conducted by the local manufacturers that are located in different countries around the world. In the year 2016 Japanese automobile manufacturers International or the overseas production were calculated to be 19 million units. The highest production is seen in countries like Europe and Asia and they have significantly increased over the past few years. With the increase in economic globalization, the Japanese automobile manufacturers have adapted rapidly changing market conditions, Japanese automobile manufacturers not only shift to those markets, but also form joint ventures and alliances with the International manufacturers. Recently it has been seen that Japanese automobile manufacturers have formed partnerships with the car manufacturers of United States and Europe. These partnerships include cooperative sales ties, production operations, joint research and development, technical tie ups and capital. With the rapid increase in motorization in in Southeast Asia in China, the Japanese automobile manufacturers are building tie ups with the local manufacturers on the basis of supply of production, capital tie ups and supply of safety and environment related technologies (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association 2018b). Therefore, from the above study it can be concluded that Japan has been a country that had experienced up and downs in the auto mobile manufacturing just after the end of the world war I. The country still arose after a set back and with the effective stringent environmental, and tax laws the premier automobile manufacturers of the country persistently tries to design and deliver automotive products which will be beneficial for the Japanese and the international automobile markets. The strict adherence to the environmental compliance not only increases the international favorability of the Japanese automobiles, it is also environment friendly. The Japanese automotive sector is now one of the highly acclaimed brands in the world with the competitive edge and the marketing agenda followed by the different Japanese companies References Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2018. [online] Dfat.gov.au. Available at: https://dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/Documents/japan.pdf [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018]. Ehsani, M., Gao, Y. and Emadi, A., 2017. Modern electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell vehicles: fundamentals, theory, and design. CRC press. Eurostat, 2018. International trade in motor vehicles - Statistics Explained. [online] Ec.europa.eu. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/International_trade_in_motor_vehicles [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018]. Export.gov, 2018. Japan - Market Overview | export.gov. [online] Export.gov. Available at: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Japan-Market-Overview [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018]. Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, 2018a. 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