Chapter 411 – Ootori Passenger Cars (1)

In late May 1935, Ootori Motors began full scale sales of its own independently developed passenger car.

It marked another milestone reached by the business Ootori Torasaburo had started after returning to Japan from Detroit, America, in 1914.

In 1914, Ootori Motors was established. In 1915, it began what was essentially knockdown production of Ford Model Ts. In 1920, the “Japan Ford Motor Company” was officially established with Ootori’s cooperation. In 1925, Ford built its own knockdown production plant.

For about five years after the World War, Ootori Motors struggled, but after the Ootori zaibatsu achieved enormous success through its American stock investments and rebuilt the company, its financial resources and other aspects were strengthened.

In 1928, Ootori Motors began mass producing its own independently developed trucks using the Ford production system. With annual production reaching 5,000 vehicles, nearly twice Japan’s production volume