Japanese Carmakers, Profits Suffer From Island Row In China

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Honda made cautionary noises when announcing its quarterly numbers today, taking its annual profit forecast for the year down a notch to 370 billion yen ($4.1 billion). Three months ago, Honda already had cut its profit forecast for the fiscal year to March to 375 billion yen ($4.7 billion) from its earlier estimate of 470 billion yen ($5.9 billion). $1.8 billion evaporated on the forecast, mostly due to continuing sales troubles in China.

In China, Honda sold 604,000 vehicles in 2012, way below its initial goal of 750,000. The pace of recovery in China is slower than Honda had expected, Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura told Reuters.

Analysts had expected a cheerier outlook, based on the fact that the yen has finally reversed its trend and is going down against major currencies. This turns overseas profits into more yen, and it helps exports.

Honda’s announcement throws a shadow over the financials of Toyota (Tuesday) and Nissan (Friday). Especially Nissan is very dependent on China. Nissan’s December sales were down 24 percent in China, Honda lost 19.2 percent , those of Toyota were down 15.9 percent.

The fiscal year of Japanese carmakers ends on March 31, 2013.

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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  • Lowsodium Lowsodium on Jan 31, 2013

    Maybe they should recall several million cars like Toyota did. Their sales have shot through the roof.

  • JimothyLite JimothyLite on Jan 31, 2013

    Bertel, can you translate the cartoon? I'm worried about the fellow taking a nosedive into the ocean. Thank you.

    • See 3 previous
    • Tosh Tosh on Jan 31, 2013

      @carlisimo Purple one: "San Francisco cock-sucker..."

  • Silverkris Silverkris on Jan 31, 2013

    Chinese speaker here. The rabbit in the purple hat is pounding a hammer to plant a new sign that says "Diaoyu Islands", which is the Chinese name for them (as opposed to the Japanese name Senkaku). The caption is the sound of the hammer pounding in the sign post into the ground (dong dong dong). Similarly, the caption referencing the figure breaking the staff of the Japanese flag is just verbalizing the sound of the stick breaking (ka cha). And yes, the figure face down in the water is identified as an illegally occupying Japanese.

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Jan 31, 2013

    They're not just rocks. The economic zone around them is large and important, especially if there are oil deposits within the zone. The Chinese liberally interpret the economic zone as extending the mainland limit, allowing them to claim a larger section of the Taiwan straight as an inland Chinese waterway. Remember, China claims Taiwan as part of China and has periodically claimed the straight as all-Chinese, forcing the U.S. Navy to send ships through the straight to maintain that it's an international waterway not subject to Chinese control. Those worthless rocks are part of that overall game, just as the Spratly Islands are part of China's effort to extend its borders to encompass the entire South China Sea.

    • Bd2 Bd2 on Feb 04, 2013

      Funny how most of China's territorial claims arise out of being part of the Mongol and then Manchu Empires.

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