tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17320859.post113706481006901993..comments2023-10-31T02:02:10.136-07:00Comments on Immodest Proposals: Japanese Domestic MarketXWLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13646729965929680256noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17320859.post-1137135214399229012006-01-12T22:53:00.000-08:002006-01-12T22:53:00.000-08:00Yes. I believe pretty much most cars sold in the J...Yes. <BR/><BR/>I believe pretty much most cars sold in the Japanese domestic market are limited to 1.76M (or 69") in width (which is why those 6 passenger tall wagons look so strange and aren't sold in the U.S.), and they often stretch the sheet metal on top of the frame for the U.S. version to increase the interior width while keeping the same rolling frame to reduce costs.<BR/><BR/>I believe Honda began this technique in the late 80s and early 90s and everyone else has followed, but the Japanese makers have done so much more successfully (The U.S. automakers hamper themselves in the Asian and European markets by building wider frames that can't be shrunk to the desired sizes)<BR/><BR/>I could be completely wrong on all this, but I'm pretty sure this is close to the truth.<BR/><BR/>(I guess I'll annoy RIA and say there is 'truthiness' in my above statements if not truthfulness)<BR/><BR/>I checked the specs on the current Accord, Japan width 69", length 183", wheelbase 105". U.S. width 72", length 191", wheelbase 108".XWLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13646729965929680256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17320859.post-1137128565740140852006-01-12T21:02:00.000-08:002006-01-12T21:02:00.000-08:00Out of curiosity - do the Japanese make cars bigge...Out of curiosity - do the Japanese make cars bigger for American consumers than for domestic customers? It seemed that way from what I've seen while travelling there.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08961347958508840129noreply@blogger.com