Among the three major Japanese brands in China, only Honda maintained solid sales growth last month while deliveries barely changed at Toyota and fell at Nissan.
Honda’s September sales rose 4 percent to 138,056, led by the Accord and Civic. The two models each generated volume of more than 20,000, Honda Motor Co.’s China office said.
Toyota Motor Corp. did not release monthly sales for China. According to the China Passenger Car Alliance, a Shanghai-based consultancy, Toyota brand sales totaled 122,000 last month, virtually unchanged from a year earlier.
Nissan sales dipped 4.6 percent to 134,713 after gaining 2 percent in August, according to Nissan Motor Co.’s China office.
Through September, Honda deliveries advanced 16 percent to 1.12 million while Toyota sales increased 6.7 percent to 1.01 million. Nissan deliveries slid 0.4 percent to 1.09 million.
Mazda, Mitsubishi
The performance of two smaller Japanese brands was also mixed in September.
Mazda sales slipped 9 percent to 20,619 while Mitsubishi deliveries rose 4.2 percent to 11,501, according to Mazda Motor Corp.’s China office and Mitsubishi Motors’ joint venture partner, GAC Motor Co.
In the first three quarters, Mazda deliveries slumped 23 percent to 161,742 while Mitsubishi sales dropped 10 percent to 96,414.
Another small Japanese brand, Suzuki Motors Corp., exited the Chinese market in 2018, after struggling with losses for many years.
