Ford to exit Japan and Indonesia; poor market share blamed

Ford Motor Company will be marking its exit from the Japanese and Indonesian car markets this year. The reason cited is that the company cannot find any "reasonable path to profitability" in either market. Last year, Ford sold only around 5,000 vehicles in Japan, accounting for a share of around 1.5% in the new car market. Indonesia too saw paltry sales of around 6,000 cars, equating to a market share of around 0.6%.

Ford will be shutting down all of its business operations in the two countries. Apart from closing dealerships, the brand will be stopping imports of Ford and Lincoln vehicles, and even product development that was being carried out in Japan will now be moved somewhere else.

Ford's Japanese operations commenced in 1974 and the company has 52 dealerships in the country that employ nearly 300 people. Ford entered Indonesia in 2002 and has 44 dealerships. In both markets, Japanese automakers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan have proven to be strong competitors, largely due to localized production facilities.

Source: Reuters