5 ms·

I'de say it was rather large, since looking around, it's believed that it was very big pre-WWiII, but a quick look for numbers isn't revealing any good sources.

I'de say it was rather large, since looking around, it's believed that it was very big pre-WWiII, but a quick look for numbers isn't revealing any good sources. I suppose it'll just have to float around as a "general belief" that the Japanese automotive industry was "rather big" pre-WWII. WWII definitely effected the US less than a lot of countries though that is for sure. But I think certain industries benefited more from USA's post-war advantage than others (automotive maybe being an example).

maxerickson 9y ago
Japan was not a big player in the global auto marketplace prior to World War II. Toyota had made less than 2000 vehicles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_AA#Toyota_passenger_car_production_from_1935_to_1949 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_AA#Toyota_passenger_car... Neither was Germany. Hitler started pushing the people's car in 1934 or so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen#1932.E2.80.931938:_People.27s_Car_project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen#1932.E2.80.931938:_... They were building nice cars in Germany, they just weren't building a lot of them. Meanwhile Ford had produced ~15 million Model Ts and 4 million Model As prior to 1932 (when production of the Model A was stopped).