In July, the three major Japanese automakers, namely Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, and Nissan Motor all celebrated a hard-won year-on-year growth in their monthly China sales. 

In the first seven months of the year, the cumulative China sales volume of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all encountered a year-on-year downward slope, with Toyota still facing the least impact versus Nissan the most. With 1,084,700 vehicles sold, Toyota saw its year-to-date sales volume almost catch up with its results from a year ago.

The rise in overall sales was partly contributed by a slew of governmental stimulus, policies, subsidies, and campaigns issued to boost auto purchase desire and rejuvenate the otherwise bleak market.

In July, Toyota sold 180,400 vehicles in China, down 9.8% from June, but still higher than the first five months of the year and 6% higher from the year-ago period.

The company’s sales were mainly driven by the hot demand of its SUV lineup, such as the HARRIER. However, with the universal chip supply crunch continuing to challenge the industry, the automaker’s premium imported brand, Lexus, witnessed a 13.9% decline in July China sales compared to a year ago.

As to Honda, the company sold 133,556 vehicles in China in the past month, jumping 23.5% compared to the same month last year, which was also 4.1 percentage points higher than the year-on-year growth it achieved in June.

Among Honda’s rich product mix, the Accord sedan and the CR-V SUV models maintained their blooming momentum in July sales. In the Jan.-Jul. period, Honda sold 812,784 vehicles in China, slipping down 9.2% over the previous year. 

Nonetheless, the conditioned purchase tax cut policy from the Chinese government has indeed incentivized the demand for the company’s hybrid vehicle models, which were applicable for the subsidies. 

By the end of July, Honda sold 120,961 units of vehicles mounted with its SPORT HYBRID high-performance dual-electric-motor power system.

Photo credit: Honda

In July, Nissan Motor sold 100,203 vehicles in China, edging up 4.6% year on year. The automaker celebrated its monthly China sales volume surpass that of the year-ago period for the first time in the past five months. 

By the end of July, Nissan Motor’s cumulative sales volume amounted to 646,223 vehicles in the country, indicating a 19.4% decrease from a year ago. Its passenger vehicle joint venture, Dongfeng Motor Co. & Ltd. (DFL), sold 535,280 vehicles (including Nissan, Venucia, and Infiniti brands) year to date, representing an 18.4% decrease compared to the same period in 2021.

In an effort to promote auto sales in China and ride the new energy vehicle tide, the Venucia brand plans to officially announce its new energy vehicle transformation with a new energy concept vehicle coming in the second half of 2022.

Lastly, according to data provided by Kyodo, Mazda Motor saw its July sales slash down 33% from the previous year to 9,044 units in China.