Ford To Shut Japan, Indonesia Operations Citing Lack Of Profitability

Ford Motor Co. will wind up its operations in Japan and Indonesia by the end of this year, the company reportedly said Monday. The car manufacturer saw “no reasonable path to profitability” in the two countries, according to an email sent to all employees in the region.

The company will exit all areas of business in the two countries, including sales and imports of cars, and will close dealerships, Reuters cited the email sent to employees. Even the product development currently carried out in Japan will be shifted to another country.

The email, sent by Dave Schoch, president for Asia-Pacific at Ford, said: “Unfortunately, this also means that our team members based in Japan and Indonesia will no longer work for Ford Japan or Ford Indonesia following the closures.”

In another emailed statement, Karen Hampton, Ford’s Asia-Pacific spokeswoman, said that the step was being taken “after pursuing every possible option,” Bloomberg reported. The company would continue to provide support to customers for service, spare parts and warranties, she added.

Ford said its minority shareholding in Mazda Motor Corp. would not be affected by its exit from Japan, Reuters reported.

Ford began operations in Japan in 1974 and sold about 5,000 cars last year, amounting to 1.5 percent of the imported new cars market, according to Reuters. The Japanese market is dominated by domestic heavyweights like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The Michigan-headquartered automaker entered the Indonesian market in 2002 and sold approximately 6,000 vehicles in 2015, which was about 0.6 percent of the total new car market of the Southeast Asian country.

Last year, Ford’s rival General Motors had also announced it was exiting Indonesia.