Jaguar's Sales In China Double, Cars Help Japan Balance Trade With China

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Those who have an ideological beef with China should keep one thing in mind: Without China, the car industry (to name just one segment) would be dead. China’s unbridled appetite for cars keeps the whole industry humming. Two examples:

Jaguar announced that they doubled their sales in China in the first half year of 2010. Sure, selling 1,521 Jags in six months may not be much in the grand scheme of things. But it’s an indicator of China’s buying power. China already is the world’s largest market for Daimler’s S-Class and makers of luxury cars the world over would be collecting welfare checks would iut not be for the Middle Kingdom. Jaguar celebrates the best half-year sales record in the seven years they have been in China. The second quarter was even better: Up 129 percent year on year. Their best-selling car is the Jaguar XF, selling 1,370 vehicles. The new Jaguar XJ added 140 units to the count, reports Gasgoo.

In not quite related news, The Nikkei [sub] reports Japan’s trade deficit with China shrank to a paltry $5b in the last fiscal year. That despite of a very strong yen, and without the daily drama of calling China a currency manipulator. Since the mid-1990s, Japan had a whopping trade deficit with China. Not only was Japan flooded with cheap Chinese goods. Japanese companies added to the imbalance by shipping materials and parts to China, where they were turned into finished goods and came back to Japan.

Now, Japan more and more exports expensive goods to China. Passenger vehicles, trucks and other transport equipment accounted for 10.12 percent of the value of Japanese exports shipped to China last fiscal year. Around 96,400 vehicles were shipped to China in the January-May term, up 50 percent from a year earlier, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. “Japan could very well enjoy trade surpluses with its neighbor in the near future,” says the Nikkei.

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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  • Blowfish Blowfish on Jul 19, 2010

    The owner of luxury cars in Middle Kingdom only cares about the sticker price anyways, most of the cars only be driven not all that fast so any cars will hold up for many many yrs. Unlike cars sold in the land of Flowery Flag, one day driving will put more miles than a car there in 6 mths. The car market of Middle Kingdom is becoming like the habit of a Kleptomaniac, u can just give him anything. And anything will do, as long as it has a high sticker price.

  • Gimmeamanual Gimmeamanual on Jul 19, 2010

    I can see my apartment in that picture!

  • Kwik_Shift Hyunkia'sis doing what they do best...subverting expectations of quality.
  • MaintenanceCosts People who don't use the parking brake when they walk away from the car deserve to have the car roll into a river.
  • 3-On-The-Tree I’m sure they are good vehicles but you can’t base that on who is buying them. Land Rovers, Bentley’ are bought by Robin Leaches’s “The Rich and Famous” but they have terrible reliability.
  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
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