Japan’s top carmakers suffered a huge setback in China in the first half, with sales plunging nearly 20%, the biggest drop in the world’s largest car market since 2012. The top six – Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru – all of which assemble and sell cars through their joint ventures with Chinese partners, sold 1.71 million conventional vehicles between January and June, a 19.9% decline year-on-year, according to industry data provider MarkLines.
“The dynamic Chinese car market requires all players to react quickly to customers’ changing tastes,” said Eric Han, Senior Manager at Suolei, an advisory firm in Shanghai. “Japanese carmakers are lagging behind their Chinese rivals in developing electric cars which are now in high demand here.” Nissan was the worst affected, with deliveries of conventional cars in the first half slumping 24.4% year-on-year to 358,509 units. Honda’s sales plummeted 22% to 529,691 units, while Toyota was relatively unscathed. Deliveries by Japan’s top carmaker fell 2.8% to 879,400 units in the period. The last time Japan’s top carmakers reported such massive sales slump was in 2012 in the wake of anti-Japan protests over the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Monthly sales in September of that year fell between 35% and 50% at Nissan, Honda and Toyota. Sales of EVs by the Japanese marques were not available. In June alone, the six companies controlled 17.8% of China’s car market, compared with 21.6% a year ago, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Phate Zhang, Founder of CnEVPost, a Shanghai-based EV data provider, said the Japanese companies have yet to launch a successful electric car in China that could take on models developed by Tesla and BYD.
Overall car sales in the first half in China rose 2.7% year-on-year to 9.52 million units, according to CPCA. Pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars drove the growth. A total of 3.08 million units were delivered in the first half, up 25% from last year’s 2.47 million. The environmentally friendly cars accounted for 32.4% of total sales. BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, dominates the mainland’s low-priced EV segment, while Tesla holds the top position in the premium segment. A price war in China in the first four months of this year saw makers of both electric and conventional cars offer heavy discounts to attract consumers worried about the economy and their livelihoods. Dozens of carmakers, including Japanese marques, slashed prices to retain market share. But the heavy discounts failed to drive up sales because budget-conscious consumers did not bite, believing even deeper price cuts could be on the way, the South China Morning Post reports.
