Several Japanese automakers are accelerating plans to increase their supply of SUVs and other similarly sized vehicle types. These efforts are driven by the popularity of light trucks in the U.S., as well as by the low price of crude oil. Japanese automakers had already intended to up production of SUVs, expanding past their specialties...
sales
Car Navigation Makers See Falling Revenues Despite Strong First Quarter
Three of Japan’s five car navigation system manufacturers saw revenues fall in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. The drop is attributed to sluggish sales of in-car electronics in the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) segment in the April–June period, due to new vehicle sales in the U.S. market falling below the previous year’s level. The...
Schaeffler Group Releases Sales Figures for First Half of 2017
Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, commonly known as Schaeffler Group, has released its consolidated earnings for the period of January–June 2017. Excluding foreign exchange fluctuations, net sales for the period rose 3.8 percent over the previous year to 7 billion euros ($8.24 billion). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), excluding special accounts, fell 10...
Subaru’s New Levorg, WRX S4 Exceed Pre-Order Targets by Over 150%
Subaru Corp. (TYO:7270) announced on Aug. 7 that pre-orders for the company’s new Levorg and WRX S4 models have surpassed monthly sales targets by more than 150 percent. Both new models are fitted with an upgraded version of the company’s EyeSight driver assist system as standard equipment. Additional driver assist functionality has been installed as...
Toyota Upwardly Revises Projections for 2017 on Back of Strong First Quarter
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) upwardly revised its earnings forecast on Aug. 4 for the full business year ending in March 2018. The company’s total sales forecast is now 28.5 trillion yen ($257.33 billion), a 1 trillion yen increase from previous estimates. Operating profit is now forecast at 1.85 trillion yen and net profit at 1.75...
Suzuki Posts Record Profits in First Quarter
Suzuki Motor Corp. (TYO:7269) posted 26.7 billion yen ($240 million) in operating profit for the April–June quarter of fiscal 2017. It marks a record first-quarter for the company, coming on a year-on-year increase of 43.8 percent. Strong sales in India helped bring about the company’s first annual sales increase in two years, as well as...
Foreign Car Sales in Japan Increase 3.8% for First Half of 2017
There were 150,997 new vehicle registrations in Japan for foreign automobiles for January–June 2017, according to figures released on July 6 by the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA). The first half figures represent a 3.8 percent increase over the same period for the previous year, marking the eighth straight year of such increases. Twelve automotive...
Sumitomo Riko to Bolster Connector Seal Business
Sumitomo Riko Co. Ltd. (TYO:5191) plans to bolster the company’s seal business for elastomer material used in waterproof connector seals fastened to wire harnesses. Connector seal sales in fiscal 2016 were around 8.5 billion yen ($76.11 million), but Sumitomo Riko is planning to increase sales to 14 billion yen for fiscal 2020, which would mark...
Yokohama Rubber Turns Focus to Truck, Bus and Industrial Machine Tires
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) is angling to move quickly in expanding its commercial tire business sales, including those for truck and bus tires. The company aims to boost sales to 200 billion yen ($1.79 billion), an increase of 20 percent. The company will look to expand its sales network for industrial-use tires and boost...
Japanese Automakers Show Strong Sales Performance in US, China for 2016
Five Japanese automakers in fiscal 2016 enjoyed year-on-year growth in sales in China, with four of these companies doing so also in the U.S., according to sales volume data collated by Japan Automotive Daily. In China, Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203), Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7201), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (TYO:7267) and Mazda Motor Corp. (TYO:7261)...
Prius Claims Back Top Spot in New Car Sales Rankings
The Toyota Prius was the best-selling new car in Japan in fiscal 2016. It is the first time in five years that the Prius has topped the domestic new car sales rankings, coming partly due to a market-expanding strong first-half performance. The Honda N-Box came in second for the second year in a row, followed...
JAMA Forecasts New Vehicle Sales to Top 5 Million Units in 2017
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc. (JAMA) on March 16 announced its forecast that 5,000,300 new vehicles will be sold domestically in fiscal 2017, which is 0.8 percent lower than that forecast for fiscal 2016. According to figures compiled by JAMA, the number of registered vehicles for the domestic market for fiscal 2017 is forecast...
Toyota’s Global Sales of Hybrids Hits Ten Million
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) announced on Feb. 14 that its total sales of hybrid vehicles (HVs) through the end of January had reached 10 million units. The achievement comes nineteen-and-a-half years after Toyota’s first HV, the Coaster Hybrid EV, was released in Japan in August 1997. Broken down by region, the sales numbers are as...
Toyota Upwardly Revises Consolidated Earnings Estimate for 2016
Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) upwardly revised its consolidated earnings forecast on Feb. 6 for the fiscal year ending March 2017. Compared to the original earnings forecast from November of last year, sales figures have been increased 500 billion yen ($4.51 billion), with operating and net profit increasing 150 billion yen. A revision of the full-year...
Mazda Moves to Turn Around Sales in Japan, North America
Mazda Motor Corp. (TYO:7261) is beginning to turn around in North America and Japan and go on the offensive. Revenue declined for the nine months ending December 2016 in these two markets, which comprise 40 percent of Mazda’s worldwide sales. With this severely hitting its bottom line, Mazda has responded by setting various strategies with...
New Car Sales up for Third Straight Month in January
Japan’s total domestic sales of new cars grew 4.9 percent year-on-year in January to 401,650 vehicles, up for the third straight month. The number of full-size vehicles rose 8.6 percent to 258,085 units, up for the sixth straight month. The rise was led by increased sales of new models released in the second half of...
