Title: Changing the automobile industry into a mobility industry: the return of 'traditional' Japanese industrial policies?

Authors: Holger Bungsche

Addresses: School of International Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, Uegahara Ichiban-cho 1-155, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo 662-8501, Japan

Abstract: The need for decarbonisation and digitalisation together with fundamental demographic and socio-economic changes put the Japanese automobile industry under enormous pressure at home, while at the same time international competition with respect to software-defined vehicle, battery and semiconductor development, particularly from Chinese manufacturers, vigorously intensifies. Against this background, the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) has announced that the automobile industry must change into a mobility industry. This change necessitates a concerted effort of automobile industry, related non-automobile industries, as well as government and administration, because many tasks like CO₂ neutral energy supply, e-mobility infrastructure development etc. are beyond the capabilities of the automobile industry. JAMA's most recent mobility 'Vision 2035' presents an action plan that identifies issues, sets targets, and delegates tasks to all industry and non-industry actors, thus pragmatically reviving the 'traditional' approach to industrial policy in Japan, this time, however, with the industry as the initiator and coordinator.

Keywords: Japan; automobile policy; carbon neutrality; mobility industry; sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2026.155608

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2026 Vol.26 No.2, pp.185 - 204

Received: 28 Sep 2025
Accepted: 19 Dec 2025
Published online: 06 Aug 2026 *

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