Japanese Car Manufacturers and Component Makers in the ASEAN Region: a Case of Expatriation under Duress — or a Strategy of Regionally Integrated Production

Until the 1960s, vehicles sold in the ASEAN countries came exclusively from Western manufacturers. These were designed and produced in Western countries and exported to the region. Toyota, followed by other Japanese makers, entered these markets in the 1960s by opening assembly plants for CKD vehicles. Then, during the 1970s, as the ASEAN countries began to adopt policies that favoured localisation (see Chapter 3 by Humphrey and Oeter, in this volume), the Japanese vehicle makers began to outsell their Western rivals, and this in turn attracted Japanese component manufacturers who also began to set up operations in the region.