"Japan
is the most closed, developed auto economy in the world, with all
imported brands accounting for less than 6% of Japan's annual new car
market," spokesman Neal McCarthy wrote in an email message. The
12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement in its current form
will not improve Ford's ability to complete there, he said. Congress
could vote on the pact this year.
Neither
market is large for the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker. Last year Ford
sold only 6,100 cars and trucks in Indonesia and only 5,000 in Japan,
where it has accused the government of protecting domestic brands.
The company in an emailed
statement said that the decision was communicated to employees and
dealers on Monday. Ford will exit the countries before the end of the
year and plans to explain to customers its commitment to servicing cars,
providing parts and making warranty repairs.
McCarthy
said auto sales are expected to decline in Japan in the coming years.
Analysts have said that's due to an aging population and declining
interest in cars among younger people in urban areas.
In
Indonesia, it was difficult for Ford to compete without local
manufacturing and vehicles to sell in key market segments, McCarthy
said. Ford has restructured its business there but still has less than 1
percent of the market with "no reasonable path to sustained
profitability," he said.
When
the trade agreement was being negotiated in 2013, Joe Hinrichs, Ford's
president of the Americas and a former head of its Asia-Pacific
operations, said that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should be told
to open the country's automobile market.
"We
hope the U.S. government will send a clear message that any future
trade policy with Japan must ensure a level playing field and not come
at the expense of American workers," Hinrichs said.
By: Tom Krisher (AP, Detroit).
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
For The #FacebookTeam