TOKYO — Ford might be an auto giant in America, but odds are you will not spot one of its cars on Japan’s busy roads. Last year, the Detroit automaker sold all of 3,896 cars in Japan.

That’s a 0.1 percent market share, despite Ford’s decades of business in Japan.

Ford thinks it can do better. On Thursday, the Detroit automaker gathered Japan’s auto journalists to announce a new Fiesta compact car tailored for global drivers, complete with advanced anticollision technology, a fuel-saving engine and its lowest price tag yet for a car it will sell in Japan — 2.29 million yen, or $21,800.

“As you can see, America isn’t all about muscle cars,” Toshio Morita, chief executive of Ford Japan, said as he showed a candy-colored blue Fiesta at a hip Tokyo cafe. “The Fiesta will maneuver Japan’s narrow streets. At this size, it’s a great car for female drivers, too.”

With the Fiesta, Ford hopes to finally pry open a market that has flummoxed many foreign automakers, one that it all but abandoned as it fought off bankruptcy during the global economic crisis. General Motors and Chrysler hardly have a presence in Japan either, except among niche enthusiasts who relish bulky sports vehicles and classic cars.