decade after the end of World War II was met with hostility, with many examples being vandalised soon after being distributed, but it quickly became popular, with nearly 10,000 being sold in 1959. Volkswagen also began importing examples of its people carrier and van models, and by 1963 had sold 100,000 cars in Britain.Renault of France had actually built UK market versions of its cars at a site in Acton, West London, from 1902 until 1962, but its popularity actually increased after the end of UK production, helped by the arrival of the Renault 4 minicar in 1961 and the world's first production hatchback model, the Renault 16, in 1965. By the end of the decade, it had launched a smaller hatchback model, the Renault 6, and a mid-range saloon, the Renault 12, and was continuing to grow in popularity. Renault's French rival Peugeot also enjoyed success in the 1960s with its 404 saloon and even more so with its successor, the 504, which was launched in 1968. This set the scene for even more sales for foreign carmakers on the UK market during the next two decades, as their market share continued to grow. Japanese cars also started to appear on the UK market during the 1960s, although they were a rare on British roads until exploding in popularity during the early 1970s. The Daihatsu Compagno was the first Japanese car to be sold in Britain when imports began during 1964. This car was not popular with British buyers and was withdrawn from sale within a few years, although Daihatsu would return to the UK market in the early 1980s. A year later, Toyota became the second Japanese carmaker to import cars to Britain. It was followed shortly afterwards by Nissan (which used the Datsun brand for the UK market) and Mazda. Honda was also enjoying great success on the motorcycle market by this stage, although it didn't start importing passenger cars to the UK until 1972. 1968 to 1987 By 1968, UK motor vehicle production was dominated by four companies: BLMC, Chrysler (UK), Ford, and Vauxhall (GM). The Rootes Group had taken on the name Chrysler UK after its takeover by the American car giant Chrysler, which had also taken over French carmaker Simca. The national champion, BLMC (British Leyland from 1968), was handicapped in its attempts to modernise by internal rivalries. Unattractive new products (particularly the Austin