Left-hand drive cars in Japan
Why do the Japanese even drive left-hand drive vehicles even though they drive on the left? Here are some reasons why they do this:
Resale value
The demand for left-hand drive vehicles worldwide is significantly higher than for right-hand drive vehicles, which means that left-hand drive vehicles are more popular.
Comparison:
- There are about 140 countries that have right-hand traffic (like Germany and the USA)
- and almost half, namely 75 countries, drive on the left (like Japan or England).
This means that you can decide whether to buy your new car in Japan as left- or right-hand drive and some Japanese do this.
But after 5 years, for example, the left-hand drive car still has a much higher value than the right-hand drive car. This means that it simply makes more economic sense to buy a left-hand drive vehicle. To this day, some of these left-hand drive vehicles are still being ordered and driven in Japan.
Status symbol
Not only do you benefit from a higher resale value, but you also attract admiring looks in Japan, as driving a left-hand drive vehicle is something special there. It's also a way to stand out from the crowd.
Left-hand drive models only
Also, some vehicles were only manufactured as left-hand drive, which is why the Japanese had almost no choice in driving them as left-hand drive. But since, as mentioned above, there are some advantages to driving a left-hand drive in Japan, the Japanese consider it worth it.