1977 Fords in Japan

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    Honda sells Fords! Hisco, just guessing, stands for Honda Import Sales Company. I got this brochure at an imported car show in Tokyo, December 1976.

    Pintopower, IFHP97, and philbyj052020 added this photo to their favorites.

    1. Beetlebomb Pohutukawa 52 months ago | reply

      What was Ford thinking when they offered all of those left-hook US Fords for sale in Japan?

      Ford must have had extremely low expectations.

    2. Hugo90 52 months ago | reply

      Ford was apparently not the importer.

    3. Beetlebomb Pohutukawa 52 months ago | reply

      Yes, it was common in both countries for third parties to distribute products that were made by another company--especially with such low volume.

      Earlier Subarus were distributed by a third-party in the US, as were Yugos, for example.

      Recall that Studebaker was the official importer and distributor for Mercedes-Benz way back when, for example.

    4. glen.h 52 months ago | reply

      Can't imagine they sold too many, especially with the iffy build quality of Ford then...

    5. cjmuller79 52 months ago | reply

      Lineup appears to be a mixed bag, either that or they got a hold of the wrong publicity photos. While the Mustang IIs are of course Fords, they seem to have a Mercury Monarch and two Bobcats rather than Granada/Pinto pictured.

    6. Beetlebomb Pohutukawa 52 months ago | reply

      I do not know about the Japanese market, but chances are that the Mercury brand is not well known in Japan. Perhaps the Mercurys might have been rebranded as Fords?

      It's not unusual for branding to change in other markets, especially when a primarily domestic brand is not known in foreign markets.

      For example, the Oldsmobile Alero became the Chevrolet Alero in Europe.

      Some Opels were rebadged as Saturns in the USA.

      We might very well see the same situation as Fiat and Chrysler mix and match vehicles and platforms. Wasn't there a discussion (from Joe or someone) about Lancia and Chrysler rebranding each others cars in parts of Europe?

      What's utterly fascinating are people reactions to labels and marketing fluff.

    7. Golfhunter 51 months ago | reply

      Great document ! Thank you !

    8. Pintopower 50 months ago | reply

      Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Ford Pinto/Mercury Bobcat, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

    9. Five Starr Photos ( Aussiefordadverts) 48 months ago | reply

      Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Ford Worldwide Advertising, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
