Japan In November 2010. Down 30.7 Percent

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The Japanese are usually first to report last month’s sales numbers. This time: Very bad. New car sales in Japan fell 30.7 percent in November. After Japan’s generous subsidies were withdrawn, the market is down for the third straight month, and there is no end in sight.

According to The Nikkei [sub], citing numbers of the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, sales totaled 203,246 vehicles. Passenger vehicles fell 33.5 percent, trucks went down 10.7 percent. The Japanese program was no cash for clunkers scheme and definitely pulled sales forward. It will be a while until this market recovers.


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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  • Stuki Stuki on Dec 01, 2010

    Wow! Japanese people buy more cars when someone else picks up a good chunk of the tab. What weird a bunch they are.

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