France's Peugeot Citroen is grabbing a larger share of Japan's market for imported vehicles, challenging the dominant German automakers, according to industry officials.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., with its low-priced vehicles, also entered the Japanese market recently, intensifying competition.
Peugeot's sales in Japan topped 10,000 in 2000, a first for a French carmaker, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association.
Japan imported 275,279 vehicles last year. Germany's Volkswagen captured the largest share with 61,213 vehicles sold, followed by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, also German firms.
Peugeot's sales stagnated at around 2,000 vehicles after the bubble economy burst a decade ago.
The French carmaker has since redoubled efforts to boost sales, by improving the quality of services, introducing expert sales staff and refurbishing showrooms, industry officials said.
Another French automaker, Renault S.A., is also pushing for increased sales, through the network of Nissan Motor Co., in which it holds a 36.8 percent stake.
Hyundai, which entered the Japanese market last year, introduced five models and has since sold some 1,000 vehicles.
Hyundai vehicles are more than 20 percent cheaper on average than comparable Japanese vehicles.
Takashi Oshika, chief researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc., said the key to success in Japan's market is to cultivate capable staff, as German carmakers did.
"U.S. carmakers blundered as they unsuccessfully used political pressure to try to force Japanese consumers to buy their cars," he said.