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New auto sales, minicar sales, import sales down in March

April 4, 2008
By Ken Worsley


A year ago, we heard that a lack of new models was hurting domestic auto sales as they continued to slump throughout the year. Now, despite the fact that Japan’s automakers have been on a binge of releasing new models, new auto sales are still not picking up. In March, new auto sales fell 3.3% to 471,755 units, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

This year, it looks as though high gasoline prices are going to be the thorn in the side of automakers. Toyota has released twelve new models over the past year, Nissan has put out its revamped Skyline, and Honda has tinkered with its Fit, which has been the best selling model in Japan so far this year.

By category, car sales fell 1.4%, truck sales were down 15.1%, and bus sales slid 10.6%.

Breakdown by maker:

  • Toyota: 199,170 units, -5.9%
  • Nissan: 89,176 units, +2.0%
  • Honda: 59,938 units, +8.5%
  • Mazda: 27,028 units, -2.8%
  • Subaru: 14,476 units, +6.0%
  • Suzuki: 12,257 units, +2.4%
  • Mitsubishi: 12,017 units, -13.8%

By model, Honda’s Fit, Toyota’s Corolla, Toyota’s Vitz, Toyota’s Crown and Nissan’s Serena were the top sellers. The Fit has been the best selling model in all three months so far this year.

In a separate release, the Japan Minivehicle Association announced that sales of minicars were down 7.5 percent to 258,827 units in March, for the 12th straight monthly fall.

However, there was some delayed good news for automobile importers. Sales of imported vehicles rose 3.2% in financial 2007, showing their first rise for two years. Volkswagen was the top-selling import for the eighth straight year, moving 51,619 units. However, that was 3.4% lower than FY2006, and VW saw its market share fall from 20.83% to 19.5% of the import market.

Imported car sales fell 3.0% from a year ago, for the second straight month of decline.

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Comments

5 Responses to “New auto sales, minicar sales, import sales down in March”

  1. Contrarian on April 5th, 2008 3:10 am

    Ken:

    In the U.S., the Fit is a pretty cheap car. In my opinion, there’s really no reason to buy it unless you are completely strapped for cash. The feature set is… well, it isn’t. And no one will buy it for fuel mileage, as the Honda Civic is better in that vein.

    There has been a term in the United States called, “slumming.” The best way to describe it would be to point one toward the recent performance of luxury retailers (e.g., Macy’s, etc.) v. discount retailers (e.g. Wal*Mart) and note that consumer trend of cutting back on the over-priced goods.

    Is “slumming” responsible for the Fit’s sales, or do people really like that car?

    Cheers,
    Matt

    PS: What is the deal with Honda models, lately? They get uglier every year (with the exception of the Civic). The way the car industry has gone over the past several years, the Japanese designs are not cutting it for me (save Lexus). The GM models are just awesome looking. I’ll probably ditch my Honda for a GM next year (never thought I’d say that).

  2. Ken Worsley on April 5th, 2008 11:03 am

    Is “slumming” responsible for the Fit’s sales, or do people really like that car?

    I wish I knew the answer to that one. I’m honestly not following Honda’s marketing closely enough to say exactly what they’re pushing right now, though I see more ads on TV for the Fit than the Civic (I can’t really recall any Civic ads recently). Perhaps the Fit has better profit margins and/or a ‘fresher’ brand image so it gets the marketing yen?

  3. C on April 5th, 2008 2:48 pm

    Any chance on getting a rundown on the imported brand stats for those of us who don’t read the Japanese? Pretty please…

  4. Ken Worsley on April 5th, 2008 4:01 pm

    C: Actually, they do have them on the site in English, it’s just not easy to find, and I didn’t find the links when writing this.

    Here’s the monthly report: http://www.jaia-jp.org/e/stat/quick_report/200803sokuhou_e.htm

    Broken down by brand:
    http://www.jaia-jp.org/e/stat/quick_report/200803shamei_e.htm

    Actually, what’s pretty interesting is that in Jan-March, Mercedes has passed BMW and is now in the #2 market share position.

    I’m always curious as to who orders the 1-2 Morgans that are shipped over every month.

  5. CoolBiz on April 17th, 2008 1:34 pm

    Shouldn’t be too much longer until we see Japanese makers pulling out of their home market.

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