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Japan auto sales up 6.9% in April, Exports and Production up in March

According data released last Thursday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, domestic auto sales in April increased to 232,993 vehicles, up from 217,911 in April 2007. Major auto makers did well: Toyota saw an increase of 8.8%, Nissan saw a rise of 11.5% and Honda sales increased 4.7%.

By category, passenger car sales were up 9.4% at 201,155 units, while truck sales were down 6.7% to 60,662 units and bus sales slid 2.6% to 1,176 units. At the same time, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said that sales of new mini-vehicles in April fell 2.8% to 135,837 units, showing a decline for the 13th straight month.

Auto exports increased by 12.3% in March, showing an increase for the 32nd straight month, hitting 638,384 units. In FY2007, Japan shipped 6.77 million vehicles overseas, up 10.4% over FY2006 and up for the sixth consecutive year.

Also in March, production of cars, trucks and buses in Japan rose 2.3%, up for the 8th straight month. In FY2007, the production of vehicles in Japan increased 2.5% to 11.79 million units, showing a rise for the sixth consecutive year.

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

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: Read more

New auto sales down 7.1% in December, 7.6% in 2007

High gasoline prices, a lack of exciting new products, increasing urbanization and an aging population are a dangerous combination of factors when one talks about new automobile sales. How dangerous? In 2007, new car, truck and bus sales in Japan dipped to their lowest level since 1972, sinking by 7.6 percent to 3,433,829 units (not including mini-vehicles).

Sales of trucks fell 17.6 percent and sales of buses declined 11.3 percent.

After the rises seen in October and November, overall vehicle sales slipped 7.1 percent to 236,142 vehicles in December.

Japan’s market for new cars peaked in - you guessed it - 1990 at 5,975,000 units. Since then it has been on the decline, though some years have been better than others. What must be troubling to those who seek to sell more cars in Japan is that 2007 was the fourth consecutive year of decline. Read more

Toyota to boost production by 500,000 units in 2008

Over the weekend, the Nikkei reported that Toyota is expected to boost its production in 2008 by about 5%, or 500,000 units, which would mean the automaker is set to roll about 9.9 million vehicles off its production lines next year. When the 2007 figures are tallied, Toyota is expected to produce more vehicles than General Motors for the first time, and Toyota’s announcement for 2008 production is expected to widen that gap.

With demand surging in China as well as the Middle East, Toyota looks well positioned to increase its global reach in 2008. Certainly, risks remain for Toyota: Higher oil prices might bite into consumer demand, a stronger yen could cut into profit, and the potential for instability in China are all risk factors. At the same time, we feel the firm is positioned well and sticking to its guns of rolling out new models frequently enough to keep consumers interested in the brand. The question now is whether GM has any tricks up its sleeve for 2008…

Domestic auto sales climb 3.9% in November, Mitsubishi posts big gains again

In October, we saw the first rise in domestic auto sales in 28 months. In November, it happened again. According to data released yesterday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, 296,854 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in Japan in October.

Overall, 258,805 passenger cars were sold in October, an increase of 6.6% over last year. Truck sales were at 37,165, a 11.3% decrease from a year before. Bus sales stood at 884, a decrease of 19.3% from a year ago. Mitsubishi saw the largest gain in sales by percentage, posting a 17.5% increase. Mitsubishi led the pack last month as well, having posted a 17.2% increase in sales.

Sales of mini-cars are not included in the JADA figures.

Finally! Japan’s domestic auto sales up 2.0% in October; First increase in 28 months

Japan’s domestic automobile sales rose 2.0% against a year earlier in October, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. In October, 269,221 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in Japan.

After 28 months of successive decreases in sales, October’s news is certainly going to be welcomed by the auto industry. While October is not a traditionally high month for auto sales, they might indicate a long-awaited upturn in consumer spending, as well as a positive sign for October-December GDP rates.

Overall, 234,029 passenger cars were sold in October, an increase of 5.5% over last year. Truck sales were at 34,172, a 16.7% decrease from a year before. Bus sales stood at 1,020, a decrease of 2.0% from a year ago.

Back in June, Japan’s auto sales were at their lowest since 1975. Although October shows the possibility of a recovery, it would only seem natural that some form of recovery needs to have happened.

Broken down by brands, Mitsubishi comes out as the big winner, with a 17.2% increase. Toyota registered a 7.9% increase in sales, and Subaru’s sales increased 4.9%. On the other hand, Honda saw a 6.3% drop in sales, while Nissan moved 0.1% fewer autos than in October of last year.

We also learned from the Nikkei that Toyota’s domination of the domestic market is still gaining steam. In October, it seems as though Toyota has grabbed a greater than 50% market share for the first time ever. The secret? Toyota has launched a new model every month since May.

Subprime car loans coming to Japan?

Granted, defaults on car loans will never add up to amounts anywhere resembling mortgage defaults (on a per contract basis), but this still seems like an awful idea, given the current climate and lessons that should have been learned:

Consumer financing firm Orient Corp. has formed a credit guarantee company jointly with Itochu Corp. to provide a new type of automobile loan to those with poor credit histories.

Basically, if you fail Orient’s credit test for a loan, they will serve as the guarantor of the loan and bump up the interest rate.

Japan’s Per Household Car Ownership Down in 2006

Quick trivia: Which of Japan’s prefectures have the lowest rates of per household car ownership?

A few weeks ago, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association announced that new car, bus and truck sales in Japan had fallen yet again in July, showing a 10.4% decline versus July 2006. This was the 25th consecutive month of decline.

After having blogged these sales results for six straight months, I skipped it this time; perhaps the market really is that far gone. But today, something new emerged: According to the Automobile Inspection & Registration Information Association, the number of passenger cars (including minivehicles) owned per Japanese household fell for the first time ever in fiscal 2006. By the end of March, the average household in Japan owned 1.107 cars.

We see that the sheer number of vehicles registered increased, but as the rate of increase in the number of households outstripped that figure, per household car ownership fell.

At the same time, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association announced that the number of minivehicles owned in Japan, including commercial vehicles, hit a record 47.9 per 100 households as of March 31, up from 46.8 a year earlier.

For any foreseeable future, pressure is mounting on Japanese automobile firms to perform better overseas (and lobby pray for a weak yen). Could consolidation be on the horizon for the industry?

Trivia Question: Tokyo has the lowest number of cars per household at 0.521, followed by Osaka, Kanagawa, Kyoto and Hyogo.

No Acura for Japan (yet), as Honda announces moves overseas

Given the success of Toyota’s luxury Lexus brand thus far in Japan - in June, Lexus and Suzuki were the only two domestic badges to see an increase in sales against June 2006 - I thought that Honda’s introduction of the Acura brand to the Japanese market would be a no-brainer.

But, it’s not going to happen. Yesterday, Honda announced that due to the slump in domestic auto sales, it would postpone introduction of the Acura line to the domestic market for about two years. So, if you had been waiting to get a new NSX next year, it will have to be under the Honda badge.

What is Honda doing instead? For starters, Japan’s second-largest automaker announced plans to increase annual global production from the current 3.9 million units to about 4.7 million by 2010. In order to do this, Honda will be making a push into the Indian and Thai markets by building a new plant in Thailand, at a cost of about 23 billion yen, as well as also spending about $230 million to build a second production plant in India.

Then, the firm announced plans to build an assembly plant in Argentina, which would be Honda’s first non-motorcycle focused plant in that country. Together with an existing production facility in Brazil, Honda would be better poised to sell more vehicles in the growing South American markets.

I have to applaud these efforts, as it seems Honda is making moves that focus on long-term growth rather than rushing to compete in the already crowded luxury car niche market domestically (though it should do that when the time is right). Realistically, I wouldn’t put Acura’s sales in Japan over 20,000 units for the first year, and building brand awareness would be a very expensive process. Making these moves into India, Thailand and South America, despite the large cost outlays, seems to have better a risk/reward ratio.

At least, Honda seems to think so.

Japan’s Domestic New Auto Sales Down 11.2 Percent in June for 24th Straight Month Down

Japan’s domestic automobile sales fell 11.2% against a year earlier in June, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. In June, 291,640 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in Japan.

Toyota’s sales were down 12.9% on the year, Honda’s sales declined 5.7% and Nissan fell 6.3%. Toyota’s Lexus brand was a winner, however, moving 2,957 new autos for a 57.6% increase against June 2006.

JADA holds that consumers are electing to buy flat-screen TVs and other consumer electronics goods rather than new autos at this time. Rising expenditures on cellular phones has also been cited as a reason for the decline in car sales.

Overall, new car sales in the first half of 2007 were at their lowest level since 1975. The major automakers plan to counter this downtrend by releasing new models over the coming months.

The breakdown for monthly sales stats:

• Cars: Down 9.5% year-on-year to 247,229
• Trucks: Down 20.2% year-on-year to 43,170
• Buses: Down 1.4% year-on-year to 1,241

The Japan Mini Vehicles Association also announced today that in June, sales fell 6.1 percent from a year earlier to 170,526 units. This was the third consecutive monthly drop in sales. For the first half of 2007, sales of minicars fell 1.7 percent to 1.05 million units. On a side note, starting this month, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association is publishing its data in English.

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