Island Issue Still Keeping Japan's China Sales In Check

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Japanese carmakers are not out of the woods yet in China, and might be in the thick of things again if matters flare up. The other day, 30 right wing Japanese activists had to be kept away by Japanese Coast Guard, while the US and Japan held war games in preparations for a possible Chinese invasion of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

  • Toyota said sold 76,900 vehicles last month in China, up 9 percent.
  • Nissan’s China sales dropped 7.7 percent in June to 101,400 units.
  • Honda’s sales slid 5.6 percent to 61,003 units.

According to The Nikkei [sub], Japanese auto makers held a 14.5% share in the January-May period,, down from 16.4 percent share in 2012 and 19.4 percent in 2011.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Summicron Summicron on Jul 02, 2013

    "a possible Chinese invasion of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands." Anyone think that's really conceivable?

    • See 4 previous
    • Schmitt trigger Schmitt trigger on Jul 03, 2013

      @wsn Google in China has censored all references to that war, along references of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. Now seriously, the last thing the world needs is a war between the 2nd and 3rd largest economies, with the 1st one caught in the middle. Total economic caos would ensue.

  • Daiheadjai Daiheadjai on Jul 02, 2013

    Wasn't aware you could invade your own territory. How does that work?

    • Summicron Summicron on Jul 03, 2013

      Funny, we just had a sesquicentennial for something similar to that.

  • Ccode81 Ccode81 on Jul 03, 2013

    As a nation experienced economy fever based on real estate bubble, Japanese do not believe the current China growth continues in sustainable trend regardless what pro China Nikkei writes, It is where land supply is virtually unlimited. As a neighbor nation, we hear much more than westerns about how the liquidity is drying up there with problem of shadow banking.Shanghai interbank rate is surging as evidence. Todays China got huge gap between rich and poor that they need another communist revolution to redistribute the wealth. the real consumers, the Middle class population is still smaller than most developed countries. I think it might be safe to stay away or be less dependent from China for a while. Senkaku to be a good excuse to shut up the share holders who demands expansion in China. It is a very difficult place to exit, once involved.

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