Toyota's global sales drop 7% in May; Honda, Nissan also struggle in China

Intensifying competition from Chinese electric vehicles weighs on results

Toyota Motor Corp. [Reuters]
Toyota Motor Corp. [Reuters]

Japan's major automakers posted broad declines last month, with Toyota Motor Corp. — the world's top-selling automaker — recording a fourth consecutive monthly drop in global sales, hurt by high oil prices stemming from Middle East tensions and a deepening slump in China.

Toyota's worldwide sales in May, including its Lexus brand, totaled 834,279 vehicles, down 7.2 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to Kyodo News and the Nikkei. The decline extended Toyota's losing streak to four straight months.

Overseas sales, excluding Japan where demand held firm, fell 9.6 percent — a steeper drop than the overall rate — to 715,898 vehicles, also marking a fourth consecutive month of year-on-year decline.

Sales in the Middle East, where the US-Iran war has continued to disrupt logistics, fell 38.6 percent to 29,568 vehicles.

China was particularly hard hit, with sales tumbling 31.7 percent to 102,299 vehicles. The Nikkei said the China slump was the primary driver of Toyota's overall global sales decline, citing intensifying competition from domestic electric vehicle makers — alongside high fuel prices — as key factors behind Toyota's struggles in the market.

In the United States, sales edged down 0.6 percent to 238,800 vehicles. Toyota held up relatively well after launching the sixth-generation RAV4 — a full redesign of its flagship SUV for the first time in about six years.

Toyota's domestic Japan sales rose 11.1 percent to 118,381 vehicles in May, partially offsetting the weakness overseas.

Sales in India also climbed 15.3 percent, boosted by government tax-cut policies targeting the auto sector.

Toyota's global electric vehicle sales, including hybrids, rose 10 percent year-on-year to 467,584 units in May, accounting for 56 percent of total sales.

Combined global sales for Japan's eight major automakers last month totaled 1,966,434 vehicles, down 2.6 percent from a year earlier.

As with Toyota, China weighed heavily on the group's results. Of the five Japanese automakers with operations in China, four posted sales declines — the exception being Mazda, which recorded a 4.6 percent increase.

Honda Motor's China sales fell 48.6 percent to 28,385 vehicles, while Nissan Motor's dropped 34.9 percent to 37,782 vehicles. Honda's global sales declined 4.9 percent to 283,623 vehicles, and Nissan's fell 10.3 percent to 229,870 vehicles.


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