In the fifth month of 2022, the four major Japanese automakers, namely Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor, and Mazda Motor all witnessed their monthly sales volume slipping down from a year ago in China. Moreover, May sales of Toyota was the only one whose May sales recovered from April in China.

In the Jan.-May period, the cumulative China sales volume of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all saw downward slope to different degrees, with Nissan reporting the biggest decline of 26.2% year over year. Toyota continued to lead the Japanese enterprises with the most vehicles sold, at 704,200 units in total, slipping 12.3% from a year ago. 

With its April sales volume under the cover, Mazda’s year-to-date sales volume was not made public. In May, the automaker sold 8,280 vehicles, slashing down 43.8% from the previous year, according to data provided by Kyodo, the Japanese media outlet. 

In May alone, Toyota sold 148,500 vehicles in China, recovering greatly from the low sales in April with a 33.66% jump month over month. The overall number remained lower than a year ago.

The automaker explained that aside from the inevitable production adjustment caused by the pandemic, sales of the retail stores are also limited with low consumer desires. In May, its high-end imported brand, Lexus, saw a 29.9% year-on-year sales decline in China, due to the global supply shortage of semiconductors. 

As to Honda, the company sold 89,083 vehicles in China in the past month, decreasing 6.44% and 30.8% from a month and a year ago, respectively. Specifically, Dongfeng Honda faced a year-on-year slump of 45.1% with 36,440 vehicles sold last month, while GAC Honda saw its May sales shrink 15.6% to 47,124 vehicles. 

The automaker said that it has been experiencing challenges in purchasing auto parts. The insufficient auto part supply led the two joint ventures to adjust their production schedule accordingly, which affected sales.  

Honda plans to focus on the sales and marketing of its recently released battery-electric model in the country, in an effort to salvage its performance. 

With 68,844 vehicles sold in May, Nissan saw a 38% year-over-year decline in its monthly China sales. However, sales of some Nissan and Venucia-branded models surged from the year-ago period. 

To be specific, Nissan sold 49,875 vehicles last month, with the SLYPHY making up more than half of its sales with 26,592 vehicles sold, edging up 1.8% from April. In the meantime, the Venucia brand sold 5,609 vehicles, adding up to a total of 34,639 vehicles sold in the first five months of this year, increasing 22.7% from the earlier year. Nonetheless, the sales increase contributed by the models did not turn the company’s sales performance around. 

In order to tackle the situation, the Chinese government has issued several plans to boost market morale, including the policy that halved the purchase tax on certain vehicle models, and the “new energy vehicle going to the countryside” campaign. 

According to Kyodo, the two Japanese automakers, Toyota and Nissan, both held great hope to the effect of the policies.