The Japan Daily Press - The China Passenger Car Association revealed this week that the sales of cars from Japanese manufacturers in the country dropped noticeably during the month of August. They attribute the weak sales numbers to the tensions between the two countries over the Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu in Chinese, and the rising anti-Japanese sentiment among the public. The car association's Dong Yang shared this information on Monday, adding that if Japan does not yield on its claims over the territory, there will certainly be additional changes in economic relations.
Dong's comments certainly imply that the Japanese auto industry would continue to suffer in China if the tensions over the uninhabited islets aren't resolved peacefully (or non-peacefully, as long as it's in China's favor). Up until recent months, Japanese car sales in China were seen as increasing by a steady average of 10% per month. In August, Japanese sales declined by 2% in comparison with the same month a year before. However, in the same comparison, German car sales rose by 26%, U.S. cars by 20%, and South Korean cars by 13%.
Nissan Motor Co. did slightly better than even, with a 0.6% increase in sales during August, but Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. both dropped by 15% each. After the tit-for-tat visits to the disputed islands by both Chinese and Japanese nationalism activists, large-scale anti-Japanese protests and riots broke out in several Chinese cities. There were more than a few cases of Japanese-brand cars being vandalized and tipped over. Now with Japan having announced its purchase of the Senkaku Islands from their private owners, there is once again Japanese flag burning going on in the Chinese streets. Let's hope that is brought to a close quickly, not just for peaceful relations, but for the sake of the entire Asian region's economy.
