Ford blames market conditions, pulls out of Japan, Indonesia

Ford Motor Co. will wind up its operations in Japan and Indonesia by the end of this year, the company reportedly said Monday.

The company says in an emailed statement that the decision was communicated to employees and dealers on Monday.

Ford – which has a 0.1 percent market share in Japan and a 0.6 percent market share in Indonesia – will close its all offices in the two countries, spokeswoman Karen Hampton said. “This includes closing Ford dealerships and stopping the official sale and import of all Ford vehicles”. “As we work through the closures, our priorities are to ensure we treat our employees and our dealer partners with respect and support them in this transition”.

In Japan, domestic brands account for more than 90% of the new-vehicle market.

Ford began operating in Japan in 1974 and has 52 dealerships in the country, employing 292 people. 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 auto market of the Southeast Asian country. Product development carried out in Japan will be shifted elsewhere.

“Ford remains committed to serving global markets while aggressively restructuring parts of our business which have no reasonable path to achieve sales growth or sustained profitability, particularly in areas where market dynamics prevent us from competing effectively”, she said.

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