Toyota May Global Sales: Updated July 26, 2026.

Toyota May global sales drop 7.2%, down for 4th month, on weak China demand

Ideas

Global car companies such as Toyota will always have bumps in the road and now days, there are unfortunately going to be more challenges as the global environment gets more challenging and more complicated.

And yes, the Middle East situation is not good for any company and all car companies might see a decrease in sales throughout the region and may even spill over to other regions due to continued logistics disruptions.

And then there is the China situation and also the increase in gas prices which has hurt all car companies in China and with the increased competition from Chinese car companies Japanese car companies are struggling to meet sales expectations.

No car company can expect to have sales increases year-round as there are always going to be ups and downs as the global environment these days has become to unpredictable.

Hopefully, but probably not, Toyota's shareholders are more understanding as maybe Japanese shareholders might more lenient that western share-holders who expect near perfect earrings every quarter.

And then there is China, as it seems China's economy just can't turn the corner and get to where it was before the pandemic situation and its current economic challenges.

Most likely the increase in gas prices in the US has taken a toll on all car sales and even the overall inflation situation with higher prices for everything has eroded the disposable incomes or households in the US.

Car sales in both India and Japan have maybe have not had the same challenges as in the US as maybe Japan has been able to insulate itself, somewhat from the high gasoline prices affecting the rest of the world.

Tracking production is needed sometimes to see what is happening but overall metrics are still sales and profit per car. Of course you can look at the number of cars produced in a hour, in a day, or in a week, or in a month, or even in a year, but overall sales and profits are what matter not to mention market which some companies look at too.

At the same time, in Japan, some or many young people are choosing leasing cars instead of buying cars as for some it might be a more affordable option and remember, for the large metro areas in Japan a car is really not needed as maybe only the rural areas of Japan is where you need a car the most.

Once again, car companies can't expect to have increases in car sales year-round as there are going to be weeks even months or even a quarter here or there where sales are down.

Buying or leasing a new car is not like going to the grocery store every day or even every week as it's at best a once every 5 year situation for most if not all car buyers.

So car companies should have some built-in periods when they might know its going to be a slow month or slow quarter and prepare for it mentally and try to prepare shareholders too who seem to think a company has to have increased sales or increased profits every month or every quarter which is not going to happen.

Again, car companies know that they are not going to have increased sales year round as they are going to have months and quarters that are not going to be as positive as they want. 

But the the key is to warn shareholders, who always seem to expect increased sales and increased profits when in reality that is never the way it is but in today's hyper-globalized world where for some its always about more of or more of that, it not going to happen for every company that way as there are going to be period of less sales and less profits.

Have a nice day!

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260629/p2g/00m/0bu/028000c

Japan Automakers and Global Sales: Updated March 10, 2026.

Global sales for Japan automakers grow in Jan., Toyota record high

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260226/p2g/00m/0bu/041000c

Ideas

The Japanese car industry, despite the appearance of eight Japanese automakers, is still a very competitive market as evidenced by the fact that there are only a few foreign car models in Japan.

With that said you would think that if the Japanese market is so competitive how can eight Japanese car companies survive. In reality 3 or 4 of the smaller car companies in Japan are subsidiaries of the larger car groups such as Toyota and Nissan but the smaller car companies still operate with a lot of independence.

As more countries and cities, such as in Japan and globally, create more electric charging stations in cities that make it more convenient, more and more hybrid cars are going to be produced and of course bought over time.

Demand might be some or a lot of demand now for more electric cars but the challenge is getting more electric charging stations set-up and even set-up in homes and other places that an electric vehicle can easily charge just like going to a gas station for a regular gas car.

For whatever reason, Toyota of course has built itself into the global leader and will continue to be the global leader outside of maybe Volkswagen or GM. 

It appears that maybe just maybe or maybe its only Toyota that the trade deficit that Japan has had with the EU might be lessening some but again it could just be Toyota only that is still having an impact in the EU market.

And China too, while not exactly that robust, the Chinese market might still be holding its own even there was a 2.7 percent decline in Japanese auto sales. The Chinese market is like the US market and even bigger in a geographic sense, a huge market and more and more Chinese are moving into the middle class and even upper-middle class and are looking for something besides their own home-grown brands.

Globally the car market is not ready for electric vehicles only as there is still a lot of resistance from the powerful oil lobbying groups and of course the infrastructure needed for car battery charging stations are not fully complete just yet, as it still going to take some time before, if ever, the electric car market overtakes the gasoline car market.

Car production or any production of products is never a complete linear upward process as there are always going to be some delays in production equipment breakdowns, equipment maintenance, supply chain disruptions, raw material supply disruptions and even the changing of models on a production line and even less working days for some facilities such as in Japan.

Car companies and manufacturing companies know this and have regular schedule down times as needed and also they anticipate that there are going to be glitches in the system and most likely never a full year of uninterrupted production of a product.

Ever since the Carlos Gohsn situation Nissan has had one bad situation after another but maybe just maybe they can see light at the end of the tunnel and they just beginning to get back to some kind of normalcy.

Nissan recently sold its huge global headquarters building to a Taiwanese company but leased it from them as it remains Nissan's global headquarters still in Yokohama Japan.

I have often used the Nissan building as a place to write, observe, and research as there is a Starbucks coffee shop with inside and outside chairs and tables for many people.

The Nissan global headquarters is adjacent near the Yokohama station area and can easily be reached with a walk-way connecting the Nissan building with Yokohama station.

Yes, again, ever since the Ghosn debacle the company has been underwater and is now beginning to finally come out of it but not before if accrues some more losses for this fiscal year.

Whether good or not so good all or many companies go through a streamlining of operations to get back to some kind of profitability and just like Japan Airlines some years ago it too had to streamline some of its operations to be get to a position of profitability.

And of course there is the Sony situation even before that as Sony seemed to either delay or try to avoid any changes needed to get it back to a level that is once was and there is some who might say it never did get back what is was in the early 90's or late 80's.

Suzuki, an independent Japanese car company does cooperate with Toyota on some projects but Toyota doesn't own anything related to Suzuki as they make their own vehicles and are big in the India market these days, as Suzuki has been able to carve out some important niche markers such as in India.

Daihatsu, however, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Toyota group but focuses on compact cars and has also created its own niche markets on other Asian countries such as Indonesia.

While Mitsubishi, while not a subsidiary of any other major Japanese car company group, it too as been able to carve out is own niche markets and niche brands, but it does have some kind of alliance with the Nissan group but is not a subsidiary owned by Nissan.

Yes, as usual the Chinese and EU markets are sometimes very sluggish but Honda as usual depended on the US market to lift it sales and even though the US tariff situation might still be there it doesn't seem to have hurt Honda sales too much.

However, Honda knows it can't rely on the US market alone for its sales or profitability as it needs to find ways to increase sales in China and the EU as soon as possible.

But again, Japan companies, for the most part, used to take a long-term approach and a quarter here or there of less than expected sales or profits was never a major concern. But those days might be long gone as they too might be subject to the whims of stockholders who want to see profits every quarter and not just once a year.

Both Subaru and Mazda are independent car makers but Toyota does have a small very small stake in both related to the sharing of technologies. But both again, like the other small car makers, have carved out their own niches and niches in other countries as they don't really compete directly with the larger car brands in Japan.

As the tariff situation with the US might be coming to an end or being reduced Mazda might begin to re-think its position and begin manufacturing in Mexico in the near future.

What is interesting about the Japanese car market and the Japanese market in general there doesn't seem to this sense of cut-throat competition that is prevalent in the US market and was very prevalent in years past. 

Japan car makers, whether true or not true, seem to have a cooperative relationship with each other while of course maintaining as sense of logical competition as needed to keep ahead of the curve.

All the Japanese car makers seem to have a kind of friendly working relationship with each other for the good of the Japanese economy and the good of all car companies in Japan.

Have a nice day!

Toyota Union and Wage Hikes: Updated Feb. 18, 2025

Toyota union seeks wage hike on par with 2024's decades-high raise

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250212/p2g/00m/0bu/020000c

Commentary:

The Toyota Motor Corp. is usually the company with the most power in Japan and all other companies follow that Toyota does, especially related to wage increases.

So most likely Toyota is talking for all the other Japanese companies and wage increases in April.

The challenge is going to be the small and midsize companies which don't have the resources that the large companies have and might not be able to pay the same wages as the large companies.

Japan is in the middle of a labor shortage, which means Japanese workers have a choice in companies to choose from so most likely some or many small and midsize companies will not be able to meet the demands of the short labor market and lost out of some of the better talent in the market place.

The Bank of Japan can't do everything to help the Japanese economy so companies increasing wages is the way for the market place to help improve the Japanese economy.

Toyota most likely collaborated with other Japanese companies on what they needed and Toyota then signaled what other companies wanted in wage increases for April 2025.

But again, its quite possible some of the larger companies too might have challenges with wage increases, they risk losing qualified candidates if they can't match what other companies in their sectors are doing.

Back around the year 2,000 Toyota decided not to give wage increases which might have set in motion the two decades period of no wage increases or very low wage increases until last year.

Most likely there is a new group of managers at Toyota which sees the need to pay wage increases for the good of the company not to mention they need to keep wages at a competitive level to attract the best and brightest in Japan.

Of course, again, Toyota has the resources to pay the high wages increases but maybe Nissan, which is having financial challenges nowt might not be able to match Toyota wage increase.

Nissan and Honda just ended its negotiations to merge both companies as it looked like Honda had the upper hand in the negotiations which Nissan didn't like so they ended the meetings.

The 18,000 wage increase might be good enough for those in Nissan's union but what about the wage or salary for those jus starting out in the company. Will it be enough to attract talented workers to Nissan.

Honda is in much better financial shape that Nissan so they afford to pay a little more than what Nissan is offering.

It seems like most of the large Japanese companies are offering about the same amount with some a little more and some a little less depending on the sector.

Once again, Japan is in the middle of a labor shortage that might not be eased anytime soon, as maybe Japan immigration is not willing to allow a lot of foreign workers into Japan to meet the labor shortage.

For example, if Japan would utilize its existing resources correctly such as using more women in the labor force and or allow more women students in the technical and engineering areas at universities it might help significantly with the labor shortage in Japan.

And then Japan should eliminate its mandatory retirement age of 60 or 65 and let all who are able and willing to work continue to work and that too could significantly reduce labor shortage in Japan.

Most likely many of the large companies are going to increase wages by at least 5 percent or more but the challenge is with small and midsize companies that don't have the same resources and the large companies and as a result might not be able to match the large company wage increases which means they might not be able to attract the best and brightest in Japan.

At the same its been suggested that up to 70 percent of Japanese workers don't work for the large companies in Japan but small and midsize companies which means they might not get near the 5 plus wage increase that large companies are planning on doing.

So it means maybe 70 percent of the Japanese workforce will have wage increases less than inflation of less that inflation that increases every month.

Have a nice day!

Japan Government Economic View: Updated September 4, 2024.

 

Japan gov't raises economic view in Aug. for 1st time in 15 months

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240829/p2g/00m/0bu/045000c

Ideas:

The Japanese government, like all governments, want to show a positive view of its economy, and with good reason, as citizens begin to feel better about the economy, and don't want to hear gloom and doom, they might begin to spend in the economy and do things that lift up the economy, and Japan is no different than any other country in that regard.

"Recovering at a moderate pace", again, is a positive take on the economy, while later is says "pausing" which might lean more toward what is happening.

Especially now, during the extreme hot summer heat wave, consumers might not be spending as much or doing as much outside. 

Another article has suggested that once the temperature gets above 35 C that consumer spending goes, down, while usually in the summer  consumer spending increases.

To be fair, economies don't always grow in a linear fashion or always upward, and the Japanese economy is no exception as in the past there have been periods of up and down.

While the 3.1 percent growth for the April-June period is very good, the next quarter might  be so good or even much less than hoped for or expected, as, again, the summer heat wave might be limiting consuming spending.

There is also the Obon summer holiday period in Japan, which might or might not be as robust as previous years, and again the summer heat wave, and the current typhoon season might hurt the Japanese economy.

Amy growth or increase in consumer spending is good in Japan, as Japanese households usually don't spend like US consumers.

Consumer spending or private consumption, while maybe 50 percent of Japan's GDP is always a challenge, as Japanese consumers don't spend up to the potential of the Japanese economy. That might be a good thing or not a good thing, as Japanese consumers, for the most part, tend to be more savers than spenders.

The Japanese car industry, is a major economic driver of the Japan economy. An economic driver is anything that significantly increases economic growth. 

While the Toyota group situation, the fake testing situation, might have caused some pause in production, there is just too much demand for Toyota cars for the fake testing situation to cause that much harm.

The extreme heat can be both a positive and a negatives, as again, anytime the temperature gets above 35 C consumer spending or activities outside might be reduced.

But,yes, AC's saw a huge demand and or course the Paris Olympics helped the sale of TV sets in Japan, like almost all countries.

Outbound travel, or travel by Japanese travelers overseas have been hit with the weak Japanese yen, which makes the US dollar or the Euro much stronger, which means the purchasing power of Japanese travelers is much weaker.

Housing construction, being "almost flat", means it probably is not going to improve that much now or in the future, and for the most part, inflation is still a challenge in the Japanese economy, which means maybe home buyers are not that interested at this time.

If the Japanese government, again, doesn't say anything negative, it might mean several things, such as they don't want to say anything not so good as this time, and just maintaining the current position and or in a waiting situation or sectors to improve and then say something positive about the Japanese economy.

The global economy is always in a state of flux as not all countries grow or change the same, so its normal to say possible signs or pause in some areas.

The global economy is like a country with many different sectors in a market economy, and they all don't change or grow the same, as some improve while some don't improve, and its the same with each country's economy.

Have a nice day!