戦後日本における「小型車」工業の復興と再編

-三輪車から四輪車へ-

抄録

Until the 1950s, the three-wheel truck, primarily used for transporting small goods, constituted the largest sector in the Japanese automobile industry. The long-term and large-scale production of this vehicle can be regarded as a Japan-specific character in the history of the world automobile industry. The object of this paper is to delineate the reasons for the growth of three wheelers through an analysis of the factors in the market situation and technology and managerial strategy of manufacturers.
Until the mid-1950s, the largest demand for vehicles was the truck, especially with a carrying capacity of from 1-ton to 2-tons. However, the four-wheel truck primarily produced at that time had a 4-ton carrying capacity. Therefore, three wheelers that had produced 0.75-ton carrying trucks since the 1930s enlarged the models to fit such a demand. Furthermore, the three-wheel truck was so cheap that small businesses could purchase it, and production of three wheelers rapidly increased.
In the late 1950s, four-wheel 1-ton carrying trucks also began to be produced and were competitive with three-wheel trucks in price. The technological disadvantage in the driving comfort of the three-wheel truck and the narrow price gap between the three-wheel and four-wheel trucks resulted in the decline of the three-wheel truck during this phase.
However, in order to overcome this situation, three-wheeler manufacturers developed a light truck with a 0.5-ton carrying capacity, intending to explore a new market. Because this strategy was a great success, and three wheelers' financial performance improved, the top three-wheeler manufacturers, Mazda and Daihatsu, were able to change to four-wheeler production in the 1960s.