Toyota, Honda, Nissan see overall YoY cutback in April China sales

In the fourth month of 2022, the three Japanese automakers, namely Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, and Honda Motor all saw their monthly sales dwindle year over year in the world’s largest auto market.

Besides, the three companies all reported a year-on-year drop in cumulative sales volume in the January to April period. Among the trio, Nissan’s year-to-date sales decreased the most from a year earlier at 23.4%, with 368,125 vehicles sold. The other two automakers all saw a decline of over 10%.

Under external influences such as the COVID resurgence and the cramped supply of raw materials, China’s auto market experienced an overall downturn in April.

Individually, during the past month, Toyota sold 111,100 vehicles in China, representing a 30.7% drop from a year ago, according to data provided by Kyodo.

Compared with the first three months of the year, April marked the company's lowest monthly sales level. Notably, Toyota's joint venture, FAW-Toyota, resumed production at its Changchun base on April 11th after a month-long halt due to the pandemic.

Honda sold 95,216 vehicles in April in China, slipping down 36.3% year over year. Specifically, one of its two joint ventures in the country, GAC Honda, sold 42,936 vehicles, down 33.4% from a year ago. At the same time, Dongfeng Honda's monthly sales fell 38.4% to 52,280 units.

The automaker's cumulative sales volume in the past four months of the year amounted to 449,002 vehicles. Notably, Honda only saw a year-on-year sales increase in February among the first four months of this year.

In the past month, Nissan Motor sold 69,262 vehicles in China, indicating a 46% cutback from the year-ago period.

Despite the overall slope across the company in April, Nissan’s passenger vehicle brand Venucia managed to sell 4,455 vehicles in the month, surging 65.9% year over year. By the end of April, the brand's year-to-date sales volume grew 32.7% from that of 2021.

Photo credit: Changan Mazda

By press time, Mazda Motor Corporation, another major Japanese automaker in China, has yet to release its April sales performance results. However, the company’s only oint venture, Changan Mazda, published its monthly results on May 10th.

According to data from Changan Automobile, Changan Mazda sold 3,531 vehicles in April, representing a 68.76% year-on-year plummet. Nevertheless, during the first four months of 2022, Changan Mazda’s accumulated sales volume summed up to 44,548 vehicles, still 9.67% more than a year ago.