In the auto world, the 1980s belonged to the Japanese. They spanked the Americans’ subpar reliability; they rode over the Europeans for their lack of competition; and they drove a stake through what was left of the British efforts, which were largely in name only.
The big three – Toyota, Nissan, and Honda – dominated sales of the boring old passenger car, whether it be small, medium, large, hatchback or coupé. Corollas, Sentras, Accords, Coronas, Bluebirds, and Civics sold in the millions and often ranked as the number-one-selling model in the US. This was something previously unheard of, as Toyota, for instance, had only entered the US market in force in 1971.
People loved the reliability. People loved the fuel economy. People loved the driveability. Used to large land yachts with less than acceptable build quality and fuel economy from the 1950s, Americans gave up their traditional brands and the Japanese benefited immensely.
The 1980s also saw the Japanese copy their American cousins by producing luxury models and marketing them under different brands. Toyota was first cab off the rank with a new brand called ‘Lexus’, which was an acronym formed from the words ‘Luxury Export US’. Nissan chose the name ‘Infiniti’ and, more recently, Hyundai has the ‘Genesis’. Honda chose the name ‘Acura’, derived from the Latin meaning ‘mechanically precise’ or ‘done with precision’.
