Japanese automakers' year-to-date sales in China keep showing smaller decrease

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- With China's auto market keeping rebounding, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda all won their third-month-in-a row sales growth in China as of June.

With respect to the first-half performance, the four major Japanese automakers all posted contracted decrease in the world's largest auto market compared to the prior-year period.

Toyota sees YoY drop in YTD China sales shrink to 2.2%

In June, Toyota delivered 172,900 new vehicles in China, posting a year on year leap of 22.8%. It was the third-month-in-a-row growth achieved by the Japanese auto giant, according to Nikkei's report.

As of the year-to-date performance, Toyota still recorded a 2.2% decrease, while outpaced the other three. It sold 753,100 vehicles from January to June, outnumbering Honda by over 141,000 units. 

The vigorous growth in monthly sales owed much to the powerful driving forces from the all-new Corolla and the Levin, said Nikkei. Besides, the sales of Lexus-branded premium vehicles and the RAV4 SUV continued to grow.

According to the data offered by FAW-Toyota, the joint venture sold 82,210 vehicles (+30%) in June and 350,759 units for the first six months.

Specifically, the wholesales of the Avalon reached 13,245 units in June, hitting a new high level in terms of monthly sales. A total of 36,103 vehicles from the Corolla family were sold last month, of which the volume of its hybrid version vigorously leapt 154% from the previous year. Moreover, the June sales of the all-new RAV4, the IZOA series, the Vios and the Prado amounted to 15,566 units, 5,893 units, 7,140 units and 3,282 units respectively.

Honda Motor's China deliveries slide 4.1% YoY in June

Honda Motor Co.,Ltd.'s deliveries in China declined 4.1% year on year to 142,363 units in June, the automaker announced on July 3.

The decrease was entirely attributable to the downturn in Dongfeng Honda's retail sales. Last month, the joint venture with Dongfeng Motor saw its sales slid 14.8% over a year ago to 70,776 units.

(Civic, photo source: Dongfeng Honda)

Three models of Dongfeng Honda—Civic, CR-V and XR-V--have respective sales exceeding 10,000 units in June. Notably, the Civic was once again honored Honda's best-selling model with its sales topping 20,000 units for the second month in a row.

With 71,587 vehicles delivered, GAC Honda boasted a year-on-year growth of 9.6%. It also has three models—the Accord, the Vezel and the Breeze—whose June deliveries all surpassed 10,000 units.

Additionally, the Japanese automaker delivered a total of 18,534 units of Sport Hybrid models.

For the first half of the year, Honda Motor recorded a 17.9% year-over-year drop in China by handing over 612,007 new vehicles. The year-to-date deliveries of GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda reached 315,032 units and 296,975 units, falling 17.2% and 18.6% respectively over the year-ago period.

Nissan records 4.5% YoY sales increase in June for China businesses

Nissan announced that its sales in China business region climbed 4.5% from the previous year to 136,929 units in June with both PV and CV arms achieving growth.

(Sylphy, photo source: Dongfeng Nissan)

Its passenger vehicle businesses—Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Venucia—delivered a total of 111,234 vehicles in June, logging a 0.5% year-on-year growth. Including imported vehicles, Dongfeng Nissan sold 104,528 units with the seventh-generation Altima, the Sylphy series and SUV family serving as core models. The sales of the Sylphy reached 48,977 units, the highest-ever volume in terms of June sales.

In addition, the delivery of the Venucia-branded vehicles amounted to 6,706 units last month, including 2,595 D60s, 1,496 T60s and 1,684 Venucia Stars.

The light commercial vehicle units scored a 36.8% jump in June by selling 22,855 units. Specifically, Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. and Zhengzhou Nissan delivered 17,797 units (+47%) and 5,058 units (+9.9%) respectively.

Mazda's China unit scores 7.3% YoY increase in June deliveries

Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd. reported a retail sales volume of 21,002 units in June, which climbed 7.3% over a year ago.

Thanks to the consecutive growth for the second quarter, the Japanese automaker saw the decrease in its China year-to-date sales shrink to 8.5%.

(Mazda CX-4, photo source: FAW-Mazda)

FAW-Mazda gained a 19.6% growth in June with 8,922 vehicles delivered. During the Jan.-Jun. period, the joint venture witnessed its total sales edge up 1.8% from a year ago to 40,379 units.

FAW Group's independent business unit set for Mazda brand officially started operation on June 1, and it takes over the whole operational businesses of the Sino-Japanese brand from FAW Car Co., Ltd.

Changan Mazda delivered 12,080 new vehicles in June, posting a slight drop of 0.3% over the prior-year period. However, the growth in its first-half deliveries still remained negative due to the flagging sales for the first four months.

The top 3 models by both June and first-half deliveries were the Mazda3 Axela, the CX-4 and the CX-5. The sales of the best-selling one reached 6,933 units in June and totaled 39,648 units for the first two quarters.