The response of manufacturers to this proposal was that such a vehicle would be "impossible to manufacture with the performance and sales price requested". After much back-and-forth discussion between the industry and government, the "People's Car" Plan was eventually scrapped.

The Impact of MITI's Proposal on Manufacturers
The announcement of the "People's Car" Plan had the effect of spurring competition among automobile manufacturers to market new products, particularly the manufacturers of two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles who had been hoping for some way to enter the four-wheeled market. In 1955, Suzuki commenced sales of its 360cc Suzulite; Fuji followed suit with its Subaru 360 (also 360cc), and Mitsubishi with its Mitsubishi 500 (500cc). In 1960 Toyo Kogyo (today's Mazda) introduced the Mazda R360 Coupe, and in 1961 Toyota began marketing the 700cc Publica. All these vehicles were very clearly influenced by the "people's car" concept.

Furthermore, the "People's Car" Plan was instrumental in changing the thinking of the general public, who had thought that automobiles would have little or no role in their own daily lives. In this sense, the government's proposal had a kind of pump-priming effect, promoting the development of motorization which was to expand very rapidly in the mid-1960s.

Economic Growth and the Automobile Industry
This period of independent compact car development took place in the dawn of Japan's era of rapid growth, which would come to be known internationally as "the Japanese miracle" and would raise Japanese living standards and Japan's position in the world economy to unprecedented heights.

The Hayato Ikeda cabinet (appointed in 1960) launched this era, which continued unabated until the first oil crisis of 1973, by calling on the nation to strive for a doubling of the Japanese income. During this time, the annual output of domestically manufactured four-wheeled motor vehicles (including trucks and buses) went from 481,551 units in 1960 to 7,082,757 units in 1973 - second only to the United States. During the same period, the number of four-wheeled vehicles in use in Japan increased from 1,353,526 to a staggering 24,999,281 vehicles.

Automobile Trade Liberalization
In September 1955, Japan became an official member of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), signaling its return to the international economic community. In April 1959, the Ministry of Finance announced various trade liberalization measures, and trade liberalization for the automobile industry became simply a matter of time.

The greatest obstacle in liberalization was the weak international competitiveness of domestic passenger cars. The Automotive Industrial Association, acting on behalf of the manufacturers of passenger cars, who were calling for more time, requested the government to postpone the liberalization of passenger car trade until 1965, allowing the manufacturers to make massive investments in plants and equipment and R&D in preparation for what was inevitably to come.

After assuming the status of an "Article 8 member" within the IMF (International Monetary Fund), requiring the government to abolish all restrictions on foreign exchange, and becoming a member of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 1964, Japan finally implemented the liberalization of passenger car imports in October 1965.