Tadashi Wakamatsu: Providing the Thrill of Driving American Cars

Before the war, American cars were the market leaders, and GM Japan was founded in 1927 (then known as General Motors Japan). Furthermore, Yanase, where I previously worked, was founded in 1915, and its founding brands were Cadillac and Buick.

In other words, GM vehicles have been entering Japan for 104 years. When General Motors Japan was established, they didn't just import; they built an assembly plant in Osaka to manufacture them.

Yes. I graduated from university in 1989 and joined Yanase to handle GM vehicles. At that time, sales peaked at about 60,000 units, making them the best-selling imported cars.

However, even though I say 60,000 units, about 20,000 were sold as the Toyota Cavalier. The rest were over 6,000 Chevrolets and over 3,000 Cadillacs, totaling about 10,000. There were also brands like Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, and HUMMER. We also handled Saab and Opel from Europe, which were subsidiaries at the time, totaling about 60,000 units.

The best-sellers back then were the Chevrolet Camaro and Blazer. That was around the time SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) started selling well.

When I joined Yanase, Japan was in the era of "Someday, a Crown."

Exactly. You'd go from a Corolla to a Corona, then to a Mark II when you reached management, and eventually to a Crown (laughs).

In such an era, Chevrolet had an SUV called the S-10 Blazer. I think it was a time when society was maturing and preferences were diversifying toward SUVs and the like, moving away from the value system where cars were sedans that you stepped up through.

Since European cars hardly had any SUVs yet, American cars at that time influenced Japanese car culture and actually sold reasonably well. At Yanase, I was involved in introducing right-hand drive Blazers and planning the official import of the Astro.

While GM has been changing various strategies, we currently have a lineup of only left-hand drive vehicles. This is because we believe there are "products only GM can create," and we intend to emphasize that.

Currently, we are focusing mainly on the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette, and Cadillac. By releasing new models of the Camaro, we are trying to put it back on a growth trajectory. In other words, we have no intention of introducing cars to compete with the Prius, Vitz, Fit, or N-BOX. That is not where our strength lies.

About 70% of current Camaro customers are new, and the largest group among them is people in their 20s, accounting for 30%. In an era where young people are moving away from cars, it is gratifying that people in their 20s are buying them. Many customers don't see it as just a tool for transportation, but rather say, "I love the Camaro, I love cars."

Currently, the Camaro has two engine types: one is a 2-liter turbo. On the other hand, the 6.2-liter V8 remains popular. There are customers who feel that "an American car must have a V-type engine."

Even if the basic technology is the same as in the past, it continues to evolve by increasing efficiency. I think this is one of our strengths. The exhaust note is also different from others.

I believe the DNA of American cars inherently includes the idea that "cars are for everyone."

The Model T Ford is a perfect example, but GM was also the first in the world to adopt features like the self-starter, automatic transmission, and automatic air conditioning. I think they have worked to popularize the "car," which used to be something only a limited number of people could drive, to more people.

For example, American cars have had power seats that move freely since the 80s. Customers often ask, "Aren't American cars for big people?" but America is a multi-ethnic nation with people of Asian, Hispanic, and European descent. So, there is consideration given to fitting any person's body type.

To put it grandly, I think American car culture was built with an emphasis on fairness within a democratized world.

GM cars might occupy a rare position among imported cars in Japan, but even though they are high-preference items, they are actually easy to drive. From an ergonomic perspective, there is a focus on how to make them easy for humans to handle.

I want to keep doing it as long as the company allows me (laughs).

The other day, over 260 customers came to a Chevrolet fan event. Everyone was talking to each other with big smiles, and it was incredibly lively.

I thought to myself, "This is why I do this job." Of course, as a company, we have to grow, generate profit, and give back to shareholders and employees, but ultimately, I'm doing it to see customers getting excited and thrilled while talking about cars. I think if I sold hundreds of thousands or millions of cars without that, it would feel empty.

My father was a journalist, and I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. from the age of two. Since it was a place where you couldn't live without a car, my father bought a used Chevrolet. When the exchange rate was 360 yen to the dollar, that was the only car a Japanese person could afford. When traveling as a family, the sight that was burned into my memory from the back seat was a yellow Corvette. It was incredibly dazzling, and I thought, "How cool is that?" (laughs). I've carried that feeling with me ever since.

Later, when I got a Corvette as an adult, I became so emotional that my vision blurred. When I came to GM Japan and took charge of a Z06 for early production validation, it also evoked special emotions.

The Z06 has evolved significantly compared to previous Corvettes. Not only speed and rigidity, but safety and maneuverability have also improved surprisingly.

I think it's very much there. GM is an American company, but it has expanded worldwide, co-developed with Japanese manufacturers, and had capital ties with Isuzu, Suzuki, and Fuji Heavy Industries at one time. Therefore, they are able to reflect global input into their cars.

I myself was involved in product development at GM International in places other than America, so I have incorporated the voices of those regions into product development.

On the other hand, the market is currently undergoing a drastic change, and a once-in-a-century transformation is coming to the automotive industry. CEO Mary Barra also says that more changes will come in the next 5 to 10 years than in the past 50. GM aims to be at the forefront of that transformation, and we have set a goal to contribute to creating a society with "Triple Zero": zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

To that end, we are changing how we develop cars and how we write our business portfolio. We intend to be at the world's leading edge in what is called "CASE": Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electric.

One of the reasons I think Japan is a rich automotive society is that there are many choices. But there could be even more choices.

Some people might say "any car will do." However, others consider a car an important part of themselves. Thinking back to my roots, a car is something worth spending time and effort on, and I'd rather sit in the driver's seat than the passenger seat. And I want something I like that feels like me.

I think it would be good if there were diverse options so people could choose a car because they love driving itself, or because they want to go camping or surfing with their family. If you just try to look cool without that, it's quickly found out.

I think Japan is a world-class mature nation, but I believe there is still room for car culture to grow.

Current car enthusiasts tend to be more prominent among the wealthy. But there could be a culture where you can drive a car you like as a hobby even if you don't have that much money. There was a trend like that at one time. For example, when we were young and Toyota released the 2-door coupe 86 (AE86), there was the Levin and the Trueno.

So rather than being pessimistic, I think if we properly convey the appeal of such cars, people will get excited.

I meet Akio Toyoda about two or three times a year, and we mostly just talk about racing (laughs).

ACDelco (a parts company under GM) has its largest market outside of America in Japan, and one reason is that ACDelco batteries account for 70% of Toyota's secondary parts batteries. In that sense, we are indebted to Toyota.

When I first went to Shanghai, China in 2005, the overwhelming majority of cars were Volkswagen Santana taxis. Other than that, there were just black cars for VIPs. Everyone thought a car was not something you drove yourself.

However, at some point, people who became wealthy all started driving cars and buying imported cars. It felt as if rapid economic growth and the bubble economy had arrived all at once.

The speed of generational change was also fast. The people joining our company initially had no experience with cars at all, but a few years later, talented people studying automotive engineering started joining from universities. By then, every kind of car was there, and as you know, the Shanghai and Beijing Motor Shows have become some of the largest in the world.

The rise of Chinese automakers is remarkable now, but I feel this was inevitable.

In Japan, the points of contact with customers during the shopping process are gradually thinning. In the past, people would go to dealer showrooms to compare cars or read car magazines to deepen their knowledge before purchasing. But now, they mostly research on the internet and visit a dealer fewer than two times.

Therefore, I am mindful of how to create points of contact with people who have shown interest. Besides events, at a level closer to sales, we exhibit cars in front of large stations to increase opportunities for people to see them.

Also, Cadillac has been running the "Power Woman Project" since the year before last.

We have cool, influential women become ambassadors to appeal to a female demographic we haven't reached yet. As women become more active and independent, we want to show the image of wonderful ambassadors being active while driving Cadillacs.

For example, recently we had Tomomi Ishimura, who devised a new type of yoga in New York called "Zero Training," become an ambassador and create opportunities to actually give lectures to customers.

In that way, the ideal is to create points of contact with customers and provide heart-pounding experiences that remain in their memory. There must be something universal about enjoying cars and the experiences associated with them. What we are trying to do at GM Japan now is to pursue that.

While there may be car sharing, I want people to actually see GM cars and aspire to own them. I want to aim for cars that have such an impact that they move you when you drive them, and the moment you get in, your lifestyle habits change.

Probably when I was looking for a job. When I returned to Japan and transferred to elementary school, it was an era when there weren't many returnees. So, I thought of myself as an outlier and tried to eliminate my "American-ness" to be like everyone else.

During my university days, I had the chance to go to America, and my formative experiences from childhood returned. On the way to New York by Greyhound bus, the lid I had sealed inside myself suddenly popped open, and various memories came back like a kaleidoscope. At that moment, I realized I hadn't been living as myself until then.

From that point, I felt I had to acknowledge that and live my life, and I thought it would be good if there was something I could do between Japan and the US. That's when I learned that Yanase handled GM cars, and I said I definitely wanted to work with GM. So once I joined the company, I couldn't help but enjoy it.