Summary: Falling and recovering sales of Japanese manufacturers in the Chinese passenger automobile market

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - Having suffered a severe fall in late 2012, Japanese manufacturers have been working very hard to recover passenger automobile sales in China. However, sales growth rates have yet to reach positive figures. Ever since last July, Japanese passenger automobile sales growth rates have been negative for every month save one.

Japanese manufacturers' passenger automobile sales reached a low of nearly negative 60 percent in October 2012, when their combined sales fell under the 100,000 mark. Since then sales volumes have reached and exceeded the 200,000 unit mark. Monthly sales growth rates, while almost constantly in the negative ranges, have increased markedly this year, reaching negative 1.4 percent this July.

Chinese passenger automobile sales of the top Japanese manufacturers–Honda, Toyota and Nissan–have improved noticeably. Honda's sales growth rate for July was negative.4 percent, while those of Toyota and Nissan were negative 2.5 percent and negative 5.1 percent, respectively. Monthly sales volumes for the three manufacturers totaled 49,400 units, 71,800 units and 65,200 units, respectively.

Japanese manufacturers saw their combined share in the passenger automobile market taken by both domestic manufacturers and other foreign rivals. At its lowest, Japanese passenger automobiles' market share fell under ten percent last October. Since then their share has recovered to 18.7 percent this July.

By comparison, own brands' market share have increased from 28.2 percent in July 2012 to 30.3 percent the following year, reaching a high of 37.9 percent last December.