Ford to Start Selling Taurus Cars in Japan

Ford Motor Co. will sell its popular Taurus cars in Japan starting in February in a ten-fold expansion of its Japanese outlets for U.S.-built cars, Chairman Donald Petersen said today.

He also urged Japan to cut its car exports to the United States by 600,000 a year to prevent the trade gap between the two nations from widening.

Petersen, visiting the 27th International Tokyo Motor Show, said the exhibition “shows, among other things, that Japan . . . has potential as a receptive import market.

“It is Ford’s strong desire to tap some of that potential,” he said.

Independent Dealers

Ford’s Taurus, the No. 2 auto maker’s bid to build a car that can compete against the Japanese, will be sold through the Autorama network of 120 independently franchised dealers.

Ford sells about 400 U.S.-built vehicles a year in Japan through 11 dealers, although the auto maker also markets 35,000 Japanese-made vehicles annually under the Ford name, said Pam Kueber, Ford spokeswoman in Dearborn, Mich.

Autorama, with 120 dealers and 200 outlets, is owned by Mazda, which is 25% owned by Ford.

Petersen said a price for the Taurus in Japan has not been fixed but will be based on the price of the 1987 Taurus model sold in the United States for about $16,000.

Petersen urged Japanese auto makers to reduce their annual shipments to the United States by 600,000 cars.

‘Very Serious Problem’

“We have a very serious problem on our hands,” Petersen said, referring to the $58.6-billion U.S. trade deficit registered with Japan last year. He said Japanese car exports accounted for the bulk of the trade gap.

The Japanese government currently limits car makers here from exporting more than 2.3 million cars a year to the United States.