Slow Electric Vehicle Transition Attributed to Anti-Japanese Sentiment
Toyota, Honda, Nissan All See Sales Decline in August
Japanese automakers are struggling in China, the world's largest automobile market. This is reportedly due to the Chinese government's preferential policies for electric vehicles and the anti-Japanese sentiment that has emerged in mainland China following the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
On the 8th (local time), the Japanese media outlet Asahi Shimbun reported that sales of Japanese cars in the Chinese market have been noticeably sluggish. In particular, last month, the sales of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan?all of which have entered the Chinese market?declined simultaneously compared to the same month last year.
Nissan's sales in August were 64,905 units, down 28.9% from the same period last year, marking a decline of over 20% for three consecutive months. Toyota's sales decreased by 6.6% to 175,800 units, and Honda's sales dropped by 25.1% to 102,257 units.
The Chinese automobile market is expected to continue its moderate growth this year. The cumulative new car sales from January to July increased by 6.7% compared to the same period last year. This highlights the more pronounced slump of Japanese automakers.
During this period, sales of domestic Chinese brands increased by 20%, American cars by 13.7%, and Korean cars by 7.5%. Japanese cars, however, saw a total decrease of 21.7%.
Asahi cited the Chinese government's preferential policies for electric vehicles as the primary reason for the poor performance of Japanese cars. Since Japanese cars are still mainly gasoline-powered, they do not qualify for subsidies provided by the Chinese government.
Additionally, the decision on August 24 to discharge contaminated water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant may have negatively affected Japanese brands. Asahi reported, "Since the start of the ocean discharge of treated nuclear wastewater, criticism of Japanese cars has been growing day by day."
Meanwhile, according to the Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP), the market share of Japanese cars in China is rapidly declining. The six major Japanese automakers operating in China sold a total of 1.71 million vehicles in the first half of this year, a sharp 20% drop compared to the previous year.
As a result, the market share of Japanese cars in China recorded 17.8%, down nearly 4 percentage points from 21.6% the previous year.
The media noted that about a decade ago, the market share of Japanese cars in China was close to 50%, stating, "Japanese cars, which were slow to switch to electric vehicles, are suffering the greatest damage."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
