AN AUTONEWS 10-16-06 A 20 AUTONEWS 10/11/2006 3:01 PM Page 1

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Japan vehicle sales, 3rd quarter & YTD Japanese export profits surpass (For selected companies) 3rd qtr. 3rd qtr. 9 mos. 9 mos. 2006 2005 2006 2005 DOMESTIC Japan-built ...... 383,471 398,083 1,283,430 1,304,371 home-market woes in 3rd qtr. Import...... 2,907 3,292 8,207 9,640 Division ...... 386,378 401,375 1,291,637 1,314,011 Japan-built ...... 5,591 3,190 17,743 10,349 James B. Treece Earnings reports will Minivehicle ...... 138,009 137,577 458,868 450,045 [email protected] Japan’s top 10 sellers ...... 143,600 140,767 476,611 460,394 Hino ...... 16,379 16,013 43,851 40,952 TOKYO — Japan’s new-car market 3rd quarter 2006 underscore a truism for Lexus ...... 6,622 1,563 18,106 1,563 stinks, and the nation’s domestic au- 1. * 52,697 TOYOTA MOTOR CORP...... 552,979 559,718 1,830,205 1,816,920 tomakers are crying all the way to the 2. Daihatsu Move* 40,521 Japanese carmakers’ Japan-built ...... 160,640 194,859 515,371 628,933 3. Toyota Vitz 30,680 Minivehicle ...... 27,960 32,100 102,868 84,678 bank. Import...... 12 11 41 29 Indeed, one wonders whether the 4. Toyota Corolla 29,913 profits: The Japanese NISSAN ...... 188,612 226,970 618,280 713,640 Japanese stalwarts even need their 5. Life* 26,613 Japan-built ...... 20,385 17,699 59,072 53,088 6. 25,929 Minivehicle ...... 139,259 145,433 475,929 473,068 home market. market just doesn’t SUZUKI MOTOR CO...... 159,644 163,132 535,001 526,156 Strong profits on exports, bolstered 7. * 25,777 Japan-built ...... 103,729 126,507 314,273 355,031 by an extremely favorable exchange 8. Honda Zest* 22,426 matter. Minivehicle ...... 74,062 56,232 212,495 190,597 rate, are allowing Japanese carmak- Import...... 1,504 1,506 4,030 4,791 9. Nissan Serena 22,112 HONDA MOTOR CO...... 179,295 184,245 530,798 550,419 ers to ignore their losses at home. 10. Toyota Estima 22,008 Japan-built ...... 55,781 63,535 174,187 188,783 Third-quarter sales fell 3.7 percent *Minivehicle with engine under 660cc Japanese market just doesn’t matter. Minivehicle ...... 13,559 11,862 44,073 40,903 from a year earlier, to 1,394,713. Sales Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association MAZDA MOTOR CORP...... 69,340 75,397 218,260 229,686 and Automotive News Japan-built ...... 17,843 18,346 62,595 60,590 slumped at almost all major carmak- Toyota sales off (yawn) Minivehicle ...... 44,797 41,426 144,894 128,003 ers. Nissan Motor Co.’s sales slid 16.9 Consider Toyota. It leaves - Import...... 6 76 52 200 percent, for example, while Mazda shun midmarket cars in favor of cars to its Daihatsu Motor Co. unit, MITSUBISHI MOTORS ...... 62,646 59,848 207,541 188,793 Japan-built ...... 25,489 32,356 75,288 86,869 Motor Corp.’s dropped 8.0 percent. minivehicles, whose sales rose 4.6 so it is missing out completely on Minivehicle ...... 45,720 37,284 116,117 117,936 Japanese consumers continue to percent in the July-September the only strong segment in Japan. Import...... 0 5 0 243 quarter. Sales of Toyota plus Lexus-brand ve- FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ...... 71,209 69,645 191,405 205,048 hicles in Japan dropped 4.3 percent ISUZU MOTORS LTD...... 28,263 25,344 73,711 65,395 MITSUBISHI FUSO ...... 18,808 17,408 52,612 47,279 Tiny cars, tiny profits in the April-June quarter. They fell a Total car ...... 694,349 769,704 2,252,285 2,428,065 Minivehicles are cars and trucks further 2.5 percent in the July-Sep- Total minivehicle ...... 483,384 461,950 1,555,331 1,485,364 with 660cc engines — and tiny profit tember quarter. Total light-truck ...... 117,778 114,456 354,031 335,196 margins. Big deal. Total medium/heavy truck ...... 32,871 32,944 86,664 82,801 Total bus ...... 4,510 4,586 14,263 14,258 The shift to minivehicles was per- On Sept. 20, Toyota raised its earn- TOTAL DOMESTIC ...... 1,332,892 1,383,640 4,262,574 4,345,684 haps best seen at Honda Motor Co. ings forecast for parent-only operat- IMPORTS Honda’s overall July-September sales ing profits in the April-September fis- Volkswagen division ...... 12,505 11,405 41,360 39,258 dropped 2.7 percent. But that fall cal first half. The increase was sub- Audi ...... 2,868 3,628 10,479 11,180 masked a substantial shift in Honda’s stantial: nearly 50 percent. Bentley ...... 116 40 415 204 sales mix. Minivehicles made up a Toyota now says its profits on cars Lamborghini ...... 42 44 119 116 VOLKSWAGEN AG ...... 15,531 15,117 52,373 50,758 hefty 41.3 percent of all Honda sales made in Japan, including exports, Mini ...... 3,256 3,384 10,282 10,041 in the latest quarter, up from 30.5 will come to ¥540 billion, or $4.51 bil- BMW division ...... 11,555 11,591 35,440 32,733 percent a year earlier. lion at current exchange rates. That is Alpina ...... 40 32 88 82 Rolls-Royce ...... 14 9 37 30 Fewer sales. More sales of less prof- a steep increase from the $3.09 bil- BMW GROUP ...... 14,865 15,016 45,847 42,886 itable cars. Does it sound like a recipe lion it predicted last May. The profit Smart ...... 449 581 1,612 2,025 for falling profits? forecast excludes earnings on cars Mercedes-Benz ...... 11,846 11,533 38,208 34,736 Don’t worry. When Honda reports made outside Japan. Chrysler group ...... 877 1,023 2,777 3,166 Jeep ...... 475 497 1,690 1,631 its earnings for the quarter on Oct. 25, Toyota cited currency gains and in- Maybach ...... 4 6 13 19 expect yet another solidly profitable creased overseas sales for its rosy out- DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG ...... 13,651 13,640 44,300 41,577 month. look. It didn’t mention the domestic Ford Japan-built ...... 48 428 1,032 1,447 Ford Import ...... 1,470 1,503 3,604 4,642 Why? Exports to the highly prof- Japanese market. Jaguar...... 698 813 2,165 2,670 itable U.S. market are going gang- According to the Nihon Keizai Shim- Land Rover ...... 422 506 1,346 1,535 busters. Export profits also are being bun newspaper, $1.25 billion out of Volvo ...... 2,337 3,033 8,384 10,526 Aston Martin...... 71 29 167 86 turbocharged by an extremely posi- the $1.42 billion increase in operating FORD MOTOR CO...... 5,046 6,312 16,698 20,906 tive dollar-yen exchange rate. profits will be due solely to currency Chevrolet Japan-built ...... 1,351 1,326 5,633 5,426 Honda’s earnings, and those at its gains. With profits like those, who GM North America ...... 1,059 1,151 3,050 3,916 peers, will underscore a truism for cares how much Toyota loses at Opel ...... 95 398 783 1,563 Saab ...... 102 144 363 416 Japanese carmakers’ profits: The home? c GENERAL MOTORS ...... 2,607 3,019 9,829 11,321 Peugeot ...... 2,630 2,653 8,011 7,683 Citroen ...... 588 603 1,741 1,626 PSA...... 3,218 3,256 9,752 9,309 JAPANESE REIMPORTS ...... 4,411 4,798 12,269 14,614 TOTAL IMPORT ...... 61,821 64,614 197,871 200,315 GRAND TOTAL ...... 1,394,713 1,448,254 4,460,445 4,545,999 TOTAL LIGHT VEHICLES ...... 1,357,332 1,410,724 4,359,518 4,448,940 Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association, Japan Automobile Importers Association and Japan Mini Vehicles Association “... dealers’ profits continue to slide ... weak U.S. sales ... fewer incentives”*

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