Summary: Performance of Japanese automobile brands in China in November 2014

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - Japanese brands’ automobile sales in China have continued to fall, with year-on-year sales growth rates dipping into the red in July, September and November. According to statistics from Gasgoo.com (Chinese), Japanese brand automobile sales in November totaled 292,800 units, down 9.2 percent from a year ago. However, many analysts point out that Japanese brand sales in November 2013 were very high, totaling 322,700 units.

A total of 2.73 million Japanese brand automobiles were sold over the first 11 months of the year, up 6.8 percent from the cumulative amount sold from January to November of 2013. That growth rate is quite well behind the average market growth rate of 12.5 percent. Japanese manufacturers’ share in the passenger automobile market is 16.6 percent, down 0.9 percent from the previous year.

Aside from Suzuki, the other major Japanese brands in the country saw their sales fall in China decrease in November. The so-called ‘big three’ of Toyota, Nissan and Honda saw their Chinese sales in November fall 11.9 percent, 10.9 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively. The three manufacturers’ sales volumes for the month totaled 85,900 units, 84,900 units and 72,200 units, respectively.

Toyota only had two models whose sales broke the 10,000 mark in November: the Corolla and the Levin. Sales of the former grew 140.9 percent to become Toyota’s best-selling vehicle in the country. By comparison, sales of the Leven did fall from the previous month, but still totaled 10,500 units. November sales of the Camry, RAV4 and Crown, monthly sales which all exceeded 10,000 units a year ago, were 9,369 units, 8,957 units and 6,708 units, respectively. Meanwhile, sales of the Vios fell 22.3 percent, with just 9,889 units sold this November.

The only two Nissan models to report positive year-on-year sales growth were the Bluebird Sylphy and X-Trail. Sales of other Nissan models decreased, with sales of the Qashqai and Tiida falling over 50 percent.

Sales of the Honda Fit grew an astounding 319 percent, with a total of 13,100 vehicles sold in November. The Fit has gone on to become Honda’s best-selling model in the country. By comparison, the CR-V, which was the best-selling Honda in China, saw its sales sharply decrease 36.5 percent from the 19,300 units last November to 12,300 units this November. The Honda Accord’s sales totaled 10,500 units over the course of the month, down 23.3 percent from the previous year.

The Bluebird Sylphy was the best-selling Japanese brand automobile in China in November, growing 10 percent from last November. It was followed by the Corolla, X-Trail, New Fit, CR-V, Levin, Accord, Vios, Vezel and New Teana. Worth pointing out is that the Corolla, New Fit, Levin and Vezel are all new models or updates to previous models that debuted this year.