(FORTUNE Magazine) – Germans and Japanese have fallen for Jeeps. Saudi sheikhs won't give up their Cadillacs. When Chinese hail a taxi, they get a Ford Tempo. Detroit, once renowned for its provincialism, is finally becoming export- minded. Foreign sales of Big Three cars and trucks have grown fourfold since 1986 and, as the chart shows, could more than double by the end of the decade. Exports still represent a tiny percentage of Detroit's business, but they have become strategically important. They help slow the penetration of overseas markets by opportunistic Japanese competitors. Also, exports can lead to manufacturing opportunities in China, India, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. The plants Ford Motor and General Motors already own abroad mean their exports may compete with their own local models. Not so for Chrysler. With almost no overseas operations of its own to cannibalize, its exports represent additional business. Now that the steering wheel on some Jeep Cherokees has been moved to accommodate right-hand-drive Japan, sales there are expected to reach 4,000 this year, vs. 985 for the 1992 model with left-hand drive. In Europe, where car sales are down 20% this year, Jeep sales are up 10%, and Chrysler just launched the Voyager, a minivan with a turbo-diesel engine that's not available in the U.S. GM aims to nearly double export sales, to 250,000 by the end of the decade, from 133,000 last year. Despite their financial woes, Saudis remain GM's biggest overseas customers, with appetites for 26,378 vehicles last year, including jumbo-size Chevrolet Caprices and Suburbans and Buick Roadmasters. The Taiwanese buy about 14,000 units, among them Chevrolet Cavaliers, Pontiac Sunbirds, and Saturns -- the only export market where Saturns are now sold. Coming in the mid-1990s: a right-hand-drive Saturn for Japan. Ford's new CEO, Alex Trotman, wants to triple or quadruple exports during his term in office to 250,000 or more. During 1993's first half, Ford's sales to Latin America, its single biggest export market, rose 68%, to 10,694 vehicles. Also this year, Ford began exports to Latvia, Lithuania, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Turkey, and has opened dealerships in Shanghai, Beijing, and three other Chinese cities.

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