Japan's Domestic Car Sales: Lowest in 34 Years
By Michelle Krebs October 1, 2008Japan's auto sales for the last six-month period dropped to their lowest level in 34 years due
to rising unemployment, decade-high inflation caused by soaring gas and food prices and an aging population.
Japan's sales of cars, truck and buses (but not minicars) in the six months through September 30 fell 2.9 percent to 1.54 million vehicles, the lowest since 1974, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement Wednesday quoted by Bloomberg News. In September alone, sales of those vehicles dropped 5.3 percent from a year earlier.
Including minicars, which are the best-sellers in Japan due to a 20-percent hike in gas prices this year, are forecasted to fall 1.2 percent for the full fiscal year to about 5.32 million units, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline, according to the association reported.
Japan's Big Three automakers reported the following sales for the six-month period ending Sept. 30: Toyota's sales dropped a 6 percent - off only 1.8 percent if Lexus is excluded; Nissan's sales declined 11.3 percent excluding minicars but was down 5.3 percent including minicar sales; and Honda was up 12.5 percent on the strength of its redesigned Fit compact and new Freed minivan.
On Monday, Japan's 12 automakers reported domestic vehicle production fell 11 percent in August, the biggest drop in more than a decade. They blamed double-digit declines in exports to the U.S. - the biggest decline five years.
Manufacturers Pessimistic
The fall in Japanese vehicle production and vehicle sales has caused the executives of the country's largest manufacturers to turn the most pessimistic they've been in five years.
Bloomberg News reported the Tankan index of confidence among big makers of cars and electronics slid to minus 3 points in September from 5 in June, a fourth quarterly drop, according to the Bank of Japan said today in Tokyo. The negative reading means that pessimists outnumbered optimists for the first time since 2003. And that survey was taken before the recent financial crisis in the U.S.
Photo by Honda
Minicars, like the redesigned 2009 Honda Fit, are about the only cars selling in Japan as sales hit a 34-year low.
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