Summary: Chinese sales of Japanese automobiles in April

 Following escalated tensions between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands late last year, sales of Japanese branded products in the country took a major fall. Japanese passenger automobiles did not escape this fate, with their sales dropping severely in September and October of last year. They began to recover in November, with year-on-year sales growth rates increasing from a low of negative 58.5 percent in October.

According to statistics collected by Gasgoo.com (Chinese), a total of 229,400 domestically manufactured Japanese brand passenger automobiles were sold in China this April. The figure represented year-on-year growth of negative 4.3 percent, far better than the negative double digit growth rates reported in the previous months. A total of 817,300 domestically made Japanese passenger automobiles were sold from January to April, 13 percent less than the amount sold in the first four months of 2012.

Japanese manufacturers' combined market share in the Chinese passenger automobile segment totaled 17.7 percent in April, 3.5 percent less than the 21.3 percent they controlled a year ago, but still 0.7 percent higher than the figure reported in the previous month. The monthly rate is the highest reported since the Diaoyu Island issue occurred.

Among the major Japanese passenger automobile manufacturers operating in the country,, Toyota and Honda have already seen their year-on-year sales growth rates recover to positive figures in April. The two manufacturers sold 69,059 vehicles and 56,925 vehicles over the course of the month, respectively representing year-on-year growth rates of 1.3 percent and 2.6 percent. The Camry and Highlander played a major part in boosting Toyota's sales, with their respective sales volumes increasing 20.6 percent and 44.9 percent over the course of the month. Sales of the hybrid powered Prius also grew dramatically, increasing from just 261 units sold in April 2012 to 2,337 units sold this April. Year-on-year sales growth rates for Honda's two flagship models–the Accord and the City–totaled 15.9 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Nissan continued to suffer negative sales growth of 5.4 percent in April, although its total sales volume was slightly higher than that of Honda's. The New Sunny, Qashqai and Tiida all saw their sales fall over 20 percent during the month. However, the news was not all bad for Nissan, with the updated Teana managing to bring in 13,100 new orders.