Japanese manufacturers' passenger automobile sales in China fall in the beginning of 2013

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 14) - China Association of Automobile Manufacturers statistics reveal that Japanese passenger automobiles sales fell considerably over the first two months of the year, auto.qq.com reported today. Japanese passenger automobile sales for January to February were 17.1 percent lower than they were a year ago. Japanese manufacturers' share in the Chinese market was also much lower this year when compared with 2012.

Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Mazda's respectively reported negative year-on-year Chinese sales growth rates of 46 percent, 45.7 percent, 27.1 percent and 24.7 percent last month. Nissan remained the best selling Japanese manufacturer, recording sales of 58,200 vehicles over the month. Among them, February marked the eleventh consecutive month that Mazda reported a negative year-on-year sales growth rate. Honda, Nissan and Mazda's monthly sales totaled 36,300 vehicles, 32,000 vehicles and 10,400 vehicles, respectively.

A total of 3.38 million automobiles were sold in China from January to February, 14.7 percent higher than the amount sold a year ago.