Toyota's China sales edge up in May as tensions fade
Toyota Motor Corp. reported a monthly sales increase in China for the first time since January as the carmaker ramped up production in the country.
Deliveries in China climbed 0.4 percent to 79,000 units last month, Toyota said Monday. For the first five months of the year, sales were 9 percent short of last year's level.
The gain in May deliveries follows Japanese carmakers' production increase in China a month earlier, signaling that a consumer backlash is fading after a territorial dispute between Asia's two largest economies in 2012.
Last year, Toyota reported its first sales decline since at least 2002 and pushed back a plan to make the country its third million-unit market.
Japan's three biggest automakers boosted output in China in April.
Nissan Motor Co., the largest Japanese carmaker in China by volume, said production in the country rose 7 percent from a year earlier to 106,797 units last month. Toyota said output rose 9 percent, while Honda Motor Co. posted a 6 percent jump.
Japanese automakers also are introducing new models, another sign they expect to recoup market share.
"The companies will be rolling out new models, and with the anti-Japan sentiment gradually easing, I think you can expect the recovery to continue in the coming months," said Issei Takahashi, an auto analyst at Credit Suisse AG in Tokyo.
"Still, when you compare their sales level to the industry's growth or to their original plans, they are still only partway in their recovery," Takahashi said.
Last year, China sales of Toyota, Nissan and Honda each decreased 5 percent.
The gain in May deliveries follows Japanese carmakers' production increase in China a month earlier, signaling that a consumer backlash is fading after a territorial dispute between Asia's two largest economies in 2012.
Last year, Toyota reported its first sales decline since at least 2002 and pushed back a plan to make the country its third million-unit market.
Japan's three biggest automakers boosted output in China in April.
Nissan Motor Co., the largest Japanese carmaker in China by volume, said production in the country rose 7 percent from a year earlier to 106,797 units last month. Toyota said output rose 9 percent, while Honda Motor Co. posted a 6 percent jump.
Japanese automakers also are introducing new models, another sign they expect to recoup market share.
"The companies will be rolling out new models, and with the anti-Japan sentiment gradually easing, I think you can expect the recovery to continue in the coming months," said Issei Takahashi, an auto analyst at Credit Suisse AG in Tokyo.
"Still, when you compare their sales level to the industry's growth or to their original plans, they are still only partway in their recovery," Takahashi said.
Last year, China sales of Toyota, Nissan and Honda each decreased 5 percent.
