General Motors Corp., the world's largest auto manufacturer, is considering going into production in Japan, the Asia-Pacific head office of the company said on Thursday.
If GM builds a plant or acquires an existing facility, it would be the first foreign auto manufacturer in the postwar period to produce automobiles at its own facilities.
Other options under study include working in partnership with an undetermined manufacturer, GM Asia Pacific said.
In the 1920s and 1930s, GM made automobiles in Japan, but was forced to stop production in 1941, when war broke out between Japan and the U.S.
Its interest in acquiring manufacturing capacity here is in line with its ambition to increase its market share in Asia from 4.6 percent at present to 10 percent in the early 21st century.
"This Japanese domestic market is very important to General Motors. It's the second-largest in the world, and we can't be successful in Asia without being successful in Japan," GM Asia Pacific said in a statement.
"As these plans are in their early stages, it would be inappropriate and highly speculative to comment any further," it added.
GM Asia Pacific is also considering building a strategic alliance with Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Suzuki Motor Corp.
GM has a 9.99 percent stake in Suzuki, Japan's largest minicar maker, and a 49 percent stake in Isuzu, a major commercial maker of trucks.
GM is also considering strengthening its distribution system in cooperation with Yanase & Co. and continuing exports to Japan from Europe and North America.