Japan In August 2012: Back To Earth, But No Crash Landing

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: September 3rd, 2012

japan in august 2012 back to earth but no crash landing

Japan’s new car sales are coming back to normal as the government subsidies are running out. Sales of all vehicles climbed 12.4 percent in August, combined data of two industry associations show.

Regular vehicle sales Japan Aug ’12ManufacturerAug ’12Aug ’11YoYDaihatsu211236-10.6%Hino3,1324,061-22.9%Honda24,37625,549-4.6%Isuzu4,3105,109-15.6%Lexus3,2643,977-17.9%Mazda12,82612,0876.1%Mitsubishi3,8984,092-4.7%Mitsubishi Fuso2,4822,609-4.9%Nissan31,40533,776-7.0%Subaru6,7985,38726.2%Suzuki6,7525,32826.7%Toyota115,89798,37617.8%UD Trucks585899-34.9%Other16,43615,0249.4%Total232,372216,5107.3%

Sales of regular new cars, trucks and buses rose 7.3 percent to 232,372 units, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association says.

Mini vehicle sales Japan Aug ’12ManufacturerAug ’12Aug ’11YoYSuzuki43,74237,79215.7%Daihatsu45,00441,3438.9%Mitsubishi4,4655,563-19.7%Subaru3,9705,585-28.9%Honda23,0738,722164.5%Mazda3,8383,5637.7%Nissan10,33110,761-4.0%Toyota3,9770Other5366.7%Total138,405113,33222.1%

Separately reported sales of mini vehicles showed more life and jumped 22.1 percent to 138,405 units in August, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association reports.

Total vehicle sales Japan Aug ’12ManufacturerAug ’12Aug ’11YoYMS Aug ’12MS Aug ’11Daihatsu45,21541,5798.7%12.2%12.6%Hino3,1324,061-22.9%0.8%1.2%Honda47,44934,27138.5%12.8%10.4%Isuzu4,3105,109-15.6%1.2%1.5%Lexus3,2643,977-17.9%0.9%1.2%Mazda16,66415,6506.5%4.5%4.7%Mitsubishi8,3639,655-13.4%2.3%2.9%Mitsubishi Fuso2,4822,609-4.9%0.7%0.8%Nissan41,73644,537-6.3%11.3%13.5%Subaru10,76810,972-1.9%2.9%3.3%Suzuki50,49443,12017.1%13.6%13.1%Toyota119,87498,37621.9%32.3%29.8%UD Trucks585899-34.9%0.2%0.3%Other16,44115,0279.4%4.4%4.6%Total370,777329,84212.4%

All in all, sales climbed 12.4 percent to 370,777 units in August. January though August, the Japanese market (all vehicles) is up a whopping 46 percent to 3.8 million units, up from 2.6 million units in an earthquake-stricken 2011.

Japan Big Three Aug ’12GroupToyota Motor CoNissanHondaUnits Aug ’12168,22141,73647,449Units Aug ’11144,01644,53734,271Units YoY16.8%-6.3%38.5%MS Aug ’1245.4%11.3%12.8%MS Aug ’1143.7%13.5%10.4%Units YTD ’121,703,942468,302553,005Units YTD ’111,045,966323,359326,196MS YTD ’1244.5%12.2%14.4%MS YTD ’1139.9%12.3%12.4%YoY YTD62.9%44.8%69.5%

Looking at the Big Three, Toyota and Honda still exceed the market, whereas Nissan is continuing its more, well, subdued course.

#BertelSchmitt #Japan #JapanInAugust2012 #SalesAugust2012

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.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments

Join the conversation

Recent Comments

Dartman EBFlex will soon be able to buy his preferred brand!
Mebgardner I owned 4 different Z cars beginning with a 1970 model. I could already row'em before buying the first one. They were light, fast, well powered, RWD, good suspenders, and I loved working on them myself when needed. Affordable and great styling, too. On the flip side, parts were expensive and mostly only available in a dealers parts dept. I could live with those same attributes today, but those days are gone long gone. Safety Regulations and Import Regulations, while good things, will not allow for these car attributes at the price point I bought them at.I think I will go shop a GT-R.
Lou_BC Honda plans on investing 15 billion CAD. It appears that the Ontario government and Federal government will provide tax breaks and infrastructure upgrades to the tune of 5 billion CAD. This will cover all manufacturing including a battery plant. Honda feels they'll save 20% on production costs having it all localized and in house.As @ Analoggrotto pointed out, another brilliant TTAC press release.
28-Cars-Later "Its cautious approach, which, along with Toyota’s, was criticized for being too slow, is now proving prescient"A little off topic, but where are these critics today and why aren't they being shamed? Why are their lunkheaded comments being memory holed? 'Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.' -Orwell, 1984
Tane94 A CVT is not the kiss of death but Nissan erred in putting CVTs in vehicles that should have had conventional automatics. Glad to see the Murano is FINALLY being redesigned. Nostalgia is great but please drop the Z car -- its ultra-low sales volume does not merit continued production. Redirect the $$$ into small and midsize CUVs/SUVs.