Japan Sept new vehicle sales fall 3.1 pct yr-on-yr
Friday, October 1, 2004 7:13:41 AM
afxpress.com
(Corrects to show Honda's sales rose 9.5 pct, not fell 9.5 pct)
TOKYO (AFX) - Japanese sales of new cars, trucks and buses, excluding mini-vehicles, in September fell 3.1 pct year on year to 392,114 vehicles, the seventh drop in eight months, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA) said
Auto sales are the first consumer spending figures released each month and, as such, are watched closely by economists and investors for signs of changes in consumer confidence and propensity to spend
Sales fell at seven of Japan's 12 automotive companies, led by another massive decline at Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC), already the nation's only money-losing automaker before a vehicle recall scandal further tarnished its brand image. MMC's sales, excluding mini-vehicles, plummeted 58.6 pct to 5,382 vehicles, following drops of 56.8 pct and 60.1 pct the previous two months, JADA said
Separately, the Japan Mini-Vehicle Association reported that sales of MMC-brand mini-vehicles plunged 43.0 pct to 15,540 units
There was also a drop in sales of commercial vehicles made by affiliated Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp, which is embroiled in a similar recall scandal over attempts to suppress information about serious defects with brakes and wheel hubs suspected of causing numerous accidents and two deaths. Sales at Mitsubishi Fuso fell 47.7 pct to 7,833 vehicles. Mitsubishi Fuso was spun off from Mitsubishi Motors in Jan 2003. US-German auto giant DaimlerChrysler AG now owns 65 pct of Mitsubishi Fuso and about 20 pct of Mitsubishi Motors
Overall passenger car sales rose 1.8 pct year on year to 331,593, the JADA data showed. Sales of trucks fell 21.9 pct to 59,413, the sixth straight monthly drop, as the boost to sales from the imposition last October of stricter emission control standards in metropolitan Tokyo waned. Bus sales fell 59.6 pct to 1,108
Honda posted the biggest increase among Japan's Big 5 carmakers in September, with a 9.5 pct year-on-year increase to 46,422 vehicles. Industry leader Toyota's sales rose 5.5 pct year to 164,551 vehicles, while sales of Mazda, one-third owned by Ford, rose 3.6 pct to 24,799
Sales by Nissan, 44.4 pct owned by Renault of France, dropped 8.8 pct to 73,457 vehicles. Separately, the Japan Mini-Vehicle Association reported that mini-vehicle sales rose 2.2 in September from a year earlier to 171,351 units, the 10th consecutive monthly increase
Mini-vehicles have engines no bigger than 660cc and account for about one in three vehicles sold in Japan
For the Jan-Sept period, overall new vehicle sales in Japan, not including mini-vehicles, totaled 3.03 mln, down 2.4 pct from the same nine-month period last year
Passenger car sales were down 2.2 pct to 2.59 mln vehicles, truck sales were down 3.3 pct to 424,409, and bus sales were down 11.0 pct to 15,317, according to JADA
Minivehicle sales totaled 1.46 mln, up 6.4 pct. |
