Trump Claims Japan Has a 'Bowling Ball Test' For Cars
At a fundraising event in Missouri on Thursday, President Donald Trump made a confusing claim that has left the Japanese car industry a little bit confused.
No matter how you feel politically, this story is a head-scratcher. Reportedly, Trump said on Thursday that Japan went to extreme measures to ensure American cars weren’t sold there. This included an unfair inspection that comprised of dropping a bowling ball on the roof or hood of the cars from a height of 20 feet. The story goes that if the body dented, the vehicles were rendered of poor quality and not fit for sale.
“It’s called the bowling ball test, do you know what that is? That’s where they take a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air and they drop it on the hood of the car,” Trump said. “And if the hood dents, then the car doesn’t qualify. Well, guess what, the roof dented a little bit, and they said, nope, this car doesn’t qualify. It’s horrible, the way we’re treated. It’s horrible.”
Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey allegedly spoke to a Trump aide, who told him that Trump “frequently mentions in meetings about the Japanese dropping bowling balls on cars,” and “no one knows exactly where he got the story from.” A deep-dive into the matter by the Washington Post uncovered a video produced by the Japanese government showing a test that involves launching a spherical projectile at a vehicle at 20 mph. The test is intended to simulate the impact on a pedestrian’s head, however, and doesn’t measure how safe a vehicle is in a traditional sense.
A Tokyo transport official believes this video led Trump to believe in the so-called “bowling ball test” and called the situation a “mere misunderstanding.” With a laugh, a Honda spokesperson said he had never heard of the test, joking about it in a statement made to Japan Times.
“I’ve never heard of such a test. If we did that, I think our cars would also dent,” said Honda spokesman Hajime Kaneko.
The White House described the statement as a “joke” but has yet to comment further on the story.
[Source: Japan Times, Washington Post]
Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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As a Japanese consumer I feel that the JDM marked is still somewhat closed and restricted. I would not stop Trump from putting more pressure.