American cars have never been extremely popular in Japan, where domestic brands rule with an iron fist. The "why" of that fact is a matter of perspective, a reflection of the outlooks, governments, and indeed the cultures of each nation. But answering that question directly is perhaps less informative than meeting the curious Americans that slipped through the cracks.
Meet the Toyota Cavalier. Yes, the Toyota Cavalier, a re-badged Chevy sold in Japan as a right-hand drive model during the 1990s.
The interesting part of this story is not the Cavalier itself. The compact economy car—by American standards—was sold by the hundreds of thousands stateside between 1994 and 2005 until the larger Cobalt replaced it.
The ubiquitous Cav had several different four-cylinder engines, becoming a staple of the cheap car market for a decade. It’s safe to say it was not the best compact car produced at the time, and as such, not a vehicle you might expect to speak for the American automotive industry abroad. But that’s what it did.
At the time, the perception within the trans-Pacific trade was that Japanese manufacturers were putting American domestic brands through the wringer, at least when it came to smaller cars. Compared to their American competition, the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were better-built, more reliable, and comparable in cost, thanks to differing currency values. The Japanese compacts also had small, fuel-efficient engines, thanks to the constraints of the Japanese domestic market.
However, the narrative that Japanese companies were not acting with respect toward their American counterparts raged on, and as a result, Toyota and General Motors reached a goodwill agreement: The humble Chevy Cavalier would be re-badged as a Toyota and sold at the latter automaker’s dealerships on Honshu. A good deal, considering that building a dealer network would’ve been cost-prohibitive for the Detroit automaker.
To make the car more appealing, it was converted to right-hand drive, tarted up with some minor luxury appointments that Japanese buyers might like, and fitted with Toyota badging. There was really only so much the two companies could do, though. At 2.4 liters, the Toyota Cavalier’s engine was relatively large compared to other JDM offerings in its crowded segment. Likewise, conservative Japanese buyers were allegedly skeptical of parts available for the car, which is a fair criticism, if true.
Interestingly, Toyota’s original press release for the vehicle still survives. It’s a pretty funny read.
Sales were projected at 20,000 in the first year, far from what occurred. The document describes the fuel economy as "a promising figure for a relatively large engine." Implication: it’s not great.
It likewise stops just short of calling American drivers big and fat, stating that the "Pedals and seats have been carefully set up taking into account the generally smaller physical characteristics of Japanese people."
Sales were projected at 20,000 in the first year, far from what occurred.
Despite these subtle jabs, the press release insisted the performance of the car’s drivetrain—complete with a four-speed automatic transmission—was "sparkling." It’s a word that has never since been used to describe the Chevrolet Cavalier.
This quirky automotive mash-up saw very little success in terms of sales. Nor did it alter the perception of American cars in Japan. Around 37,000 units were sold in the country between 1996 and 2000. For comparison, Americans bought 277,000 Cavaliers in 1996 alone.
But the interesting part of this story is not so much the failure of a car in a market it wasn’t designed for. It’s the absurdity of it all. The Toyota Cavalier was offered as both sedan and coupe in Japan. Toyota Racing Development even modified a version of the Cavalier meant to be "sportier."
Just a few official low-resolution images remain of the so-called TRD Cavalier, but it was the sportiest ‘Cav ever built, at least in terms of aesthetics. Fitted with a very high wing and a flamboyant body kit, it was still powered by the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, producing 150 horsepower.
Despite the TRD model and some associated motorsports participation, many Japanese people didn’t want to keep the ‘Cavs around. The domestic competition was arguably better and not-so-arguably cheaper to own. As a result, they were exported to markets outside Japan. An uncited source on Japanese Wikipedia claims Australia and New Zealand were popular destinations, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as evidenced by this image:
This quirky automotive mash-up saw very little success in terms of sales.
The code on the license plate indicates the vehicle was located in Tomsk, a city in Siberia, when the photo was taken in 2010. That’s not only around 2,000 miles east of Moscow but 3,000 miles west of Japan, where the vehicle was originally sold. You can tell it’s a Japanese Cavalier mostly because it’s right-hand drive.
Further research indicates that hundreds of JDM Cavaliers have been imported to Russia. According to PlatesMania, there are at least 210 JDM Cavaliers in the country, with some even featuring original TRD body kits. Most of these cars are in bad shape.
The strange life of the humble Toyota Cavalier is difficult to decipher. The car sold very well domestically as a Chevy, but Japanese buyers didn’t bite. In the context of pickups, one could argue this makes sense. The Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan aren’t bad trucks by any means, but in the face of competition from the Big Three—which have been making full-sized pickups for decades—Japanese brands find it difficult to sell volumes.
That’s not quite as weird as the Toyota Cavalier, though. Imagine, instead of Toyota developing the Tundra, they talked GM into selling a Chevy-branded, JDM pickup that wasn’t quite right for the American market, and sold them at Chevy dealers.
Maybe it had a small payload, or the engine was too small, or it wasn’t offered as a crew cab. It sells paltry numbers as a result, and since it’s not a Chevy, getting parts becomes a hassle. I’m unsure if they would eventually end up in Siberia, but the story would end similarly: People would just want to get rid of them.
This is the special, funny part of the entire Toyota Cavalier Saga. If you tried to explain to an alien why the sporty version of an American-made, Toyota-branded compact car ended up thousands of miles away from where it was originally built, in a country it was never intended to see, it’d be a difficult thing to explain.
That’s the tale of the Toyota Cavalier in a nutshell: it’s a tale of absurdity. What is a Chevy Cavalier doing in Japan? What the fuck is a Cavalier doing in Siberia?
Well, it’s kind of a long story.
