Japan In September 2011: Auto Sales Up. Sukoshi
For the first time in 13, yes 13 months, Japanese new car sales registered a small uptick. Small (sukoshi) it is, 1.7 percent, compared to September 2010. And that only, because September 2010 was bloodbath.
When we sang our Sayonara to growth a year ago, we didn’t expect it would be THAT bad: For the 9 months of this year, Japanese car sales are down by a whopping 25.9 percent. Following data provided by the Japan Automotive Dealer Association. The numbers do not include minivehicles. (Careful when applying the data to minivehicle-heavy makers such as Daihatsu or Suzuki…)
Japan, Sales regular vehicles, September 2011
ManufacturerSept ’11Sept ’10ChangeFYTD’11FYTD’10ChangeDaihatsu333855-61.1%2,1375,075-57.9%Hino4,5142,97951.5%24,93022,44911.1%Honda43,42242,7231.6%278,455394,953-29.5%Isuzu4,5835,309-13.7%30,68034,724-11.6%Lexus5,7703,60859.9%32,02027,74615.4%Mazda17,40916,0608.4%112,900153,708-26.5%Mitsubishi6,4797,491-13.5%42,89259,359-27.7%Mitsubishi Fuso3,1092,75912.7%18,35818,727-2.0%Nissan53,42757,879-7.7%338,710417,521-18.9%Subaru9,07410,374-12.5%56,33366,424-15.2%Suzuki7,3695,43735.5%58,90246,08527.8%Toyota131,072130,1350.7%813,5921,255,509-35.2%UD Trucks1,02462763.3%5,7836,490-10.9%Other26,20522,42716.8%151,259144,7764.5%Total313,790308,6631.7%1,966,9512,653,546-25.9%(FYTD: Fiscal Year To Date: Cumulative sales since April)
The Japan Mini Vehicles Association does not have good news: September sales were down 9.1 percent in September, and down 19.9 percent for January – September 2011.
Japan, Sales mini vehicles, September 2011
ManufacturerSept ’11Sept ’10ChangeYTD’11YTD’10ChangeSuzuki46,08548,684-5.3%353,731445,238-20.6%Daihatsu52,09260,579-14.0%393,318483,730-18.7%Mitsubishi9,84311,012-10.6%72,96686,592-15.7%Subaru8,4509,799-13.8%60,47579,899-24.3%Honda12,09114,273-15.3%96,030131,226-26.8%Mazda4,9504,5359.2%34,78442,051-17.3%Nissan14,67414,4041.9%105,837117,998-10.3%Toyota2160216Other16-83.3%2977-62.3%Total148,402163,292-9.1%1,117,3861,386,811-19.4%(YTD: Year To Date: Cumulative sales since January)
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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Wow. Impressive growth by Lexus. I wonder why Nissan is down though. Is it because Nissan had stellar sales following the tsunami when everyone else was down or could it be, the japanese are punishing them for threatening to move production out and or source more parts from outside japan? oh total sales including mini vehicles are still down though, by 2.1% ================================================= TOTAL 313,790 (+ 1.7) Cars 280,379 (+ 0.8) Trucks 32,565 (+10.1) Toyota Motor 136,842 (+ 2.3) - Toyota brand 131,072 (+ 0.7) - Lexus* 5,770 (+59.9) Nissan Motor 53,427 (- 7.7) Honda Motor 43,422 (+ 1.6) Mazda Motor 17,409 (+ 8.4) Mitsubishi Motors 6,479 (-13.5) Suzuki Motor 7,369 (+35.5) Fuji Heavy 9,074 (-12.5) Imports 33,980 (+13.3) *Lexus is the luxury brand of Toyota Motor. Sales in Japan
Good going, Bertel. Midori no Hibi was surprisingly delightful, given the premise. Oh, wait, where were we... Lexus, right. Well, nobody cares about Lexus :-)