Japan New Car Sales: Updated March 19, 2024.

 

Japan's new car sales increase 13.8% in 2023, 1st rise in 5 yrs

Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240105/p2g/00m/0bu/050000c

Ideas:

Japan has nine major car manufacturers, but some of the smaller car companies are subsidiaries of the larger car companies such as Toyota and Nissan.

The US now has only 2 or 3 major car companies and competition and finances have whittled the number down. 

But of course the US is an import country, which means almost every major global car company is is in the US now.

Possible because Japan still has eight car companies, is a sign of cooperation among Japan companies and not so much about cut-throat competition.

The same can be said maybe about the airline industry in Japan with two major companies and many smaller regional and or low-cost airlines that are subsidiaries of the two largest airline companies.

The decrease in sales in 2022, was a combination of the pandemic and parts shortages such as a semiconductor shortage due to supply chain challenges.

Talking to a Japanese person in 2022, the person said it was taking up to six months, at that time, the get a new car.

Daihatsu, at the time of this article, might still be having production challenges due to discrepancies in quality control issues. 

Daihatsu is part of the Toyota group as a subsidiary, as it produces its own cars and also produces some Toyota cars too.

A countries population has to be big enough to support nine car companies but at 125 million the Japanese population seems well able to handle the load.

At the same time, buying a new car is not an everyday purchase, so again, the larger the population, the more chances of a lot of car sales.

Japan, for the most part, is not a showing society or show-off society and they don't buy cars to show off their wealth, so many Japanese cars are suited for the ordinary Japanese citizen, even though Lexus, a luxury Toyota brand is gaining some sales.

And for example, compared to South Korea, which does like to show off their wealth, there are not a lot of BMW's or Mercedes, in Japan, compared to other countries.

You can see the stark difference between the number of Toyota sales and the number of Nissan and Honda sales and which brand is the most popular in Japan. But that doesn't mean Nissan and Honda are not profitable or not popular, as both brands are strong global leaders too.

As mentioned before Daihatsu is having some challenges, and at this time, maybe the Toyota group told them to halt production and fix their quality control challenges.

The halting of production on the Daihatsu lines doesn't look to have made a real dent in the production or sale of overall Toyota car sales.

Minivehicles,, which are not talked about a lot are very popular in some countries and Japan too, as sales are continuing to increase in the minivehicle market globally.

Again, back in 2022, a Japanese person told me it was taking up to six months to get a new car order, but maybe the back-log has been solved.

Japan, for what its worth, makes all kinds of vehicles, and not just for Japan but many Asian countries including India too.

And many Japanese car companies have been able to find a niche or the kinds of cars that different populations want and need, and not just the standard Toyota but many other kinds of cars globally.

Now how is the Japanese car going to deal the the increase in EV cars and hybrid cars that many global buyers want now.

Have a nice day and be safe!