Thursday May 24, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Japan auto sales down 15% in 2011

Business Jan. 06, 2012 - 06:45AM JST ( 5 )

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5 Comments

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some14someJan. 06, 2012 - 06:44AM JST

(fear of ) Increase in consumption tax will further hurt domestic Sales BUT Toyota is upbeat projecting record sales(!)
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FadamorJan. 06, 2012 - 11:02AM JST

I'm surprised that their figures were only down by that much, in between the Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami and then the flooding in Thailand later in the year. (Apparently there were many parts suppliers for Japan based in Thailand.) If anything, the auto makers should be counting their blessings that the damage to their profits were only as much as they were. As the end of the article points out, the sales are almost assuredly going to rebound back to their prior levels.
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TumbleDryJan. 06, 2012 - 12:20PM JST

I don't think the Tohoku earthquake disruption had anything to do with the slump in sales or at least had minimum impact.

The industry was already suffering sluggish demand after state subsidies for the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles ended in September 2010.

Here you are.

Also, the yen continue to rise and maybe people would prefer saving for rainy days or take the opportunity to go overseas instead of buying a new car now.

The price of new car in Japan won't change while traveling in the rest of the world has never been so cheap.
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m5c32Jan. 06, 2012 - 02:16PM JST

As the population greys further, there will be fewer cars bought. Meti estimates 3.5%/year decline in petroleum products demand thru '15. There is no doubt that industry titans will have to look to emerging markets for expansion. This in turn further the "hollowing out" of Japanese industry, in the long run.
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The Munya TimesJan. 06, 2012 - 02:21PM JST

15% in 2011 mainly due to the huge disruption sparked by March's quake and tsunami, industry groups said Thursday.

Good explanation but just not true.

Naturally consumers started cutting expenses on everything in order to save money for the rainy days that are going to come, but there are other factors too. e.g. instability of the economic situation, consumption tax, incompetent politicians, and as of the auto industry, mass recalls, poor quality, and makers' basic arrogance of placing their cars one class higher in the price category than where they belong to, considering the cheap workout and technological solutions.

All one reason to value the old one better and use them until they roll and when they finally snuffed it, think about some cheaper and better solution.