- Japanese car production started in the late 50s. It experienced unprecedented growthfrom a few thousand cars in 1950 to over 3 million in 1970, more than 5 million in 1976, more than 7 million in 1980 and more than 9 million in 1989.

- This production was made in Japan for the domestic market but also for increasing exports. These becoming more and more important Japanese carmakers decided to produce cars abroad (transplants) during the 80's primarily in North America and Europe.

- These transplants grew more and more important as the automobile production in Japan stabilized at about 9 million units per year. In 2012, for the first time, the Japanese transplants exceeded the automobile production in Japan, the figures made in China through joint ventures with local carmakers are not included in this total.

- This steady increase in transplants is due to the growing success of Japanese models in all regions of the world, except Japan, where sales of Japanese models have been stagnant since the 90s.

- Please note that a significant part of automobile production in Japan is destined for exports. This share represents about half of Japanese production

Data source: File #101 - Worldwide production detailed by models