AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/13 Report--

The big four Japanese carmakers released sales figures in China in January, with Toyota and Honda seeing an increase in sales and a decline in Nissan and Mazda.

Toyota: sales of 147100 vehicles in January, up 15.3% from a year earlier; cumulative sales of 1.4745 million vehicles in 2018, up 14.3% from a year earlier.

Toyota has the highest sales among the four major car companies, which sold 147100 vehicles in January, up 15.3% from a year earlier, marking the 11th consecutive month that Toyota's sales in China have been higher than the previous year.

The Corolla is Toyota's top-selling model in China, with sales of 32500 vehicles in January, down 2.4 per cent from a year earlier, while sales of the updated Camry soared 81.4 per cent to 17400.

Toyota's Lexus sold 14403 units in January, up 5.3 per cent from a year earlier. Hybrid models accounted for 32.7% to 4707 of the month's sales. Lexus achieved 21% growth in 2018, with sales of 160000 vehicles, ranking second in the second-tier luxury formation after Cadillac.

Honda: sales in January were 136483, up 8.2% from a year earlier; cumulative sales in 2018 were 1.4323 million, down 1.7% from a year earlier.

Honda's sales in China were so hit last year that its full-year sales fell. Honda got off to a good start in January, with monthly sales of 136483 vehicles, up 8.2 per cent from a year earlier. Among them, Guangzhou Auto Honda sales rose 7.0 per cent year-on-year to 75792 vehicles, Dongfeng Honda rose 9.6 per cent to 60691 vehicles.

In terms of products, the monthly sales of seven models, including Accord, Civic, CR-V, Lingpai, Feido, colorful and XR-V, exceeded 10,000, of which Accord increased by 24.9% to 23649, while hybrid version also increased by 31.0% to 2524. In addition, monthly CR-V1 sales rose 14.2 per cent year-on-year to 15711, hybrid CR-V surged 88.5 per cent to 2094, and Civic rose 45.7 per cent to 19283.

Nissan: car sales in January were 133900, down 0.8 per cent from a year earlier; cumulative sales in 2018 were 1.56 million, up 2.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Nissan sold 1.56 million vehicles in China last year, the highest of the top four Japanese automakers, and this year's sales target is the same as last year's 1.6 million. Nissan's sales in China fell 0.8 per cent to 133900 vehicles in January, of which Dongfeng Nissan maintained growth, rising 2.0 per cent from a year earlier to 100234 vehicles, while Dongfeng Qichen sold only 13466 vehicles a month, while retail sales in the light commercial vehicle sector and Zhengzhou Nissan rose 4.5 per cent in January from a year earlier to 17259 vehicles.

In terms of models, Xuanyi rose 37.4 per cent year-on-year to 42188 vehicles, accounting for almost 1/3 of Nissan's total sales in China. In addition, Nissan's SUV sales rose 32.2% year-on-year to 17388 vehicles.

Mazda: sales in January were 22844, down 32.7% from a year earlier; cumulative sales in 2018 were 272300, down 12.0% from a year earlier.

Mazda sold 22844 units in China in January, down 32.7% from the same period last year. FAW Mazda sold 7016 units in the two joint ventures and 15828 in Changan. Mazda has been in decline since the second half of last year, falling by 42.8 per cent at one point, before Mazda's sales in China fell 12 per cent to 272322 in 2018.

In January, Mazda 3 Uncera sold more than 10,000 units a month, accounting for half of Mazda's sales in China, and a new generation of products will also be available in China this year.

Last year, China's car market suffered a cold winter, with overall sales falling for the first time in more than two decades, and Japanese brands performed well. Toyota Nissan grew in China last year, and Honda fell only 1.7% year-on-year due to the "throttle", while Mazda has been in decline since the second half of last year, eventually losing 12.0% to 272300 vehicles for the whole of 2018. Mazda continued its "downward trend" in 2019, falling 32.7% to 22844 units in the first month, Nissan also fell slightly by 0.8%, and Toyota Honda grew by 15.3% and 8.2%. For this year's sales target, Toyota and Nissan have both set 1.6 million vehicles. Toyota has a strong growth momentum, and Nissan's star products are not weak. It seems that it is difficult to predict which Japanese brand will be the top seller in China this year.

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