Japan surely can use some good news, what with pedal-gate and Standard & Poors warning that they might downgrade Japan’s sovereign debt rating from stellar to less than stellar. CSM to the rescue: They think, vehicle sales in Japan could grow by 4 percent in 2010. Honto? What’s driving sales go motto-motto? Government stimulus money.
“Consumer sentiment remains depressed in Japan, but the new car market entered a recovery phase in the second half of 2009 as the government’s eco-car tax cut policy and scrappage incentive programs gathered momentum,” said Yoshiaki Kawano, Japan/Korea sales forecast analyst of CSM. “The government’s recent decision to extend the scrappage program through September, combined with stronger economic fundamentals, will help drive full-year sales modestly higher.”
After enduring a 30 drop to 7.5 million units, vehicle production in Japan should also recover this year, says CSM after a read of the (green) tea leaves. A production of 8.6m units, and an increase of 15 percent should be in the cards, figures CSM.
Sugoi ne!
I agree with most of your post however I wouldn’t quote anything from Standard and Poor’s since they just aren’t credible:
1. Listing risky CDO’s as AAA
2. Failing to predict the troubled financial situation of major banks
Sounds to me like their analysts are lazy, overpaid and wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_and_poors