Slowing growth: Japanese car sales weak in China in September

Slowing growth: Japanese car sales weak in China in September

GUANGZHOU, China — Although Chinese consumer spending typically surges in September, Japanese automakers saw growth in Chinese new-car sales volume slow last month, according to figures released by Friday.

     Toyota Motor‘s Chinese volume increased just 1.7% year over year to 92,700 units last month, after three straight months of better than 20% growth. Sales of Corollas, a leading driver of the automaker’s usually strong showing, dipped 9% from a year earlier to 17,000 vehicles.

     In addition to a slowdown in the Chinese market as a whole, Toyota was also affected by a production halt at some facilities caused by the effects of explosions that rocked Tianjin in August.

     Honda Motor‘s sales volume jumped 28.5% 82,531 units last month. Like Toyota, however, its growth was considerably slower in September than in July and August, both of which produced more than 50% year-over-year increases.

     Nissan Motor, which has been the Japanese leader in Chinese sales, and Mazda Motor were also held to low-single-digit sales growth in September.

     The overall Chinese market has been sluggish for some time, with volume down for five straight months through August. Even the upper echelon of automakers, led in sales by Volkswagen of Germany, has been down across the board. September new-car sales for the Chinese market are expected to be announced Tuesday. 

Slowing growth: Japanese car sales weak in China in September