Toyota sales in China fall 15% in August

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai September 5) - Toyota sold a total of 75,300 vehicles in China last month, China Business News reported today. The figure represents a year-on-year decrease of 15 percent for the Japanese manufacturer.

The sales decline has been attributed to joint ventures FAW Toyota and Guangqi Toyota halting production at their factories for seven days. However, it is worth mentioning that Toyota's sales volume decreased five percent in July as well. As Toyota China spokesman Yokoi Takanori explains, in the latter half of 2011, the manufacturer went out of its way to compensate for sales lost due to March's Tohoku earthquake. Therefore, it is natural for sales levels to fall from 2011 to 2012.

In total, there were three months this year in which Toyota suffered negative year-on-year sales growth. Officials from Toyota's JV partners were very straightforward, admitting that the relative low number of new models and the increasing age of current models have made it hard to maintain high sales. Furthermore, the Corolla and Camry (pictured) has been facing increased competition from offerings from rival brands.