You have to hand it to the Japanese. They have their numbers down pat. Which country knows on December 1 how many cars they have sold in all of November? Japan does. And guess what: Sales of new cars and trucks in Japan rose 36 percent year on year to 293,410 units in November, says the Nikkei [sub], quoting numbers released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. And guess what again: This is the fourth straight month that Japanese car sales have been increasing. Hold on, there is more …
The numbers are even more jaw-drop-inducing when trucks are excluded: Sales of trucks fell 10.7 percent to 9,253 units in November.
In November, Nipponese passenger car sales jumped a whopping 43.8 percent to 268,450 units. 117,929 were standard-size models, up 45.5 percent, and 150,521 were compact vehicles, up 42.7 percent. Looks like the Japanese have refound their long lost love with the o-tomobiru.
Maybe the Japanese were trying to hold onto their old cars longer but got Shaken down.
I have to agree. If you want to own a car in Japan, you’re pretty much required to buy a new one every few years.
You guys beat me to it. Eventually, Japan’s taxation of older cars makes owning them prohibitive. I’m betting that’s got something to do with this.
Is there a breakout b/t retail and fleet? With production being idled in Japan the government may be encouraging companies to update.
I never fully understood that aspect – how does the requirement to buy new ones every so often work in practice? Are you not allowed to keep an older car, or do simply things like taxes rise prohibitively at some point? Are older cars crushed or simply exported?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_inspection_(Japan)
Basically, it gets REALLY expensive to keep cars more than a few years.
That shaken test does look quite harsh, but then again so does the British MOT on paper. However if you are mechanically minded and know how to ‘botch’ your way through a test, even the ropiest old clunker can scrape through.
Wow! I sure hope Bawney Fwank doesn’t see this. As it would surely save Government Motors from their certain (deserved) doom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_inspection_(Japan)
Red Herring. That car inspection regimen was there when the Japanese market was up, when it went down, and when it was up again. It has zero to do with the sudden growth in the market. By the way, some European countries, such as Germany, have much more rigorous inspection practices.
Are you not allowed to keep an older car, or do simply things like taxes rise prohibitively at some point? Are older cars crushed or simply exported?
It gets hideously expensive, and older cars are usually sold throughout the rest of Asia and the Pacific.
It’s a good thing, in a way: the North American supply of mint JDM R34 GT-Rs or FD TT RX-7s is largely enabled by this practice.
Exactly right. The shaken system has been in place for many years. It absolutely stimulates new car sales, but it has done that for a long time, not suddenly in Fall 2009! (grin)
Assuming the wikipedia article is accurate, the shaken is childs play, except for the stupid amount of money they charge for it. Down here my anual ‘revision tecnica’ is tougher than what the article describes and I passed 3 weeks ago with a 1980 Citroen CX on the 2nd try (and I paid US$30 for the procedure…)
Sorry to digress, but I thought Godzilla was suppose to symbolize American invasion, both military and cultural.
Beyond “Initial Quality” all of the union built US cars suck.
Bury this industry before the union retards bury the country!