Japanese cars sell more in China than German cars
Shanghai, August 13 (Gasgoo.com) In July, there were 278,000 sedans of foreign brands sold in China, accounting 77.16% of the total sales of sedans in the country that month. Of these foreign-brand sedans, Japanese sedans still led the China's sedan sales by selling 128,400 units, or 35.58% of the total, in July in the Chinese market, where German-brand and U.S.-brand sedans only sold 67,800 units and 48,600 units respectively in that month, said Zhu Yiping, an official from Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), to the Shanghai Securities News on Monday.
In China's auto market, the brisk sales of Japanese cars in July carried on their strong sales momentum in the first half of this year. Industry experts have noted that the competitiveness of Japanese cars is still building up in the China market, and this advantage is remarkably highlighted by the fuel price hike. In the first six months, the market share of Japanese cars rose to 24.7%, while German cars had 15.5% market share in China, with the sales growth slower than those of Japanese cars.
The July downturn in China's auto market is blamed on the macro-economic environment, the depression of stock and housing markets, the record high auto inventories of many carmakers, and the heat wave in mid-summer. The total auto sales of July declined somewhat, year on year, or month on month. As "a barometer of the auto market," the mid- to high-end sedan market took the brunt of this slump, with the sales of many mainstream sedan models sliding down sharply in July.
But the sales of Japanese sedans bucked the market trend last month. The new-generation Teana made by Dongfeng Nissan sold 11,017 units from June 25 (when it was put on sale) to July 31, with 8,095 of them sold in July, which set a new high of monthly sales in China's mid- to high-end sedan market.
The 8th-generation Honda Accord made by Guangzhou Honda sold a staggering 17,191 units in July, the best selling sedan again and also the only model of its kind that sold over 10,000 units that month in China. Of the top 15 Chinese makers of passenger vehicles by sales in July, only Guangzhou Honda saw its sales of vehicles increase over June -- the joint venture company sold 30,148 vehicles in July, up 57.09% month on month.
Sales at Dongfeng Honda rose 52% to 98,394 units in the first seven months this year, from 64,718 in the same period in 2007. The joint venture makes the sport-utility vehicle CR-V and the Civic hybrid sedan.
Toyota Motor Corp sold 285,000 cars in mainland China in the first six months, a growth of 34% year-on-year. Growth in Toyota's sales was much higher than of the industry as a whole. In the first half of this year, Toyota's sales had the 10.5% market share in China's sedan segment, compared with a mere 0.1% in 2002.
Industry analysts said that there are three major factor behind the good reception of Japanese cars in the China market: 1. Japanese cars have the longer wheelbase and larger space than U.S. and German cars, and can satisfy the needs of Chinese consumers for "largeness"; 2. Japanese cars consume less fuel and this feature is more welcome when the oil price is high and the government urges energy-efficiency; 3. Their elegant exterior, well-decorated interior, fashionable design and sophisticated craftsmanship help boost the consumer confidence in Japanese cars.
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