Ford Throws Global Cars in Toyota's Domestic Paradise

Japan is still a forbidden land for many carmakers out there and, although some of them have tried to launch models in the country, it's still Toyota the one that leads the field there. Ford wants to change things a little bit, although it's obviously that the American carmaker does not have what it takes to challenge Japanese leaders. The Detroit-based manufacturer will thus rely more on global products when it comes to Japan, hoping to get greater sales this year.

And although greater sales sound pretty well, statistics prove that Ford is not at all a top player in the Japanese industry. The company wants to increase sales by 20 percent in the country which, added to last year's stats, would bring the overall sales to no less than 3,000 units.

Both the Kuga SUV and the Explorer are supposed to play key roles for Ford in Japan. The first is already there since December, while the latter will arrive in the course of this year. And more models could debut in Japan in the upcoming years, as part of a different strategy to launch cars in the local market quickly after they go on sale in other markets, a report by Autonews reveals.

"We are squeezing the time to market," Tim Tucker, president of Ford Japan, said in a statement. "We haven't had two new product launches in a 12-month period here in years and years."

The company hasn't confirmed yet, but both the Fiesta, which is currently assembled in Thailand, and the popular Focus, produced in China, could arrive in Japan in the next months, as both are actually part of Ford's global takeover.