The Honda Motor absorbent Co. Nissan Motor Co. can give the two Japanese brands in difficulty the scale that China Byd Co. , sales figures published on Wednesday.
Honda, who previously drew plans for an agreement that is equivalent to an acquisition of Nissan, sold 3. 43 million cars worldwide in the first 11 months of 2024. Nissan said he sold more than $ 3 million.
China’s biggest automaker BYD sold 3.76 million vehicles over the same period — a clear illustration of how Nissan and Honda are weak alone but, together, might have a fighting chance.
Honda and Nissan are facing a tough time against rising car brands in China, which overtook Japan as the world’s largest auto exporter last year and will advance by 2025.
The duo had to decrease and the production in China, while Mitsubishi Motors Corp. , which can also participate in the combination of Honda-Nissan, has almost been undone of the largest automotive market in the world.
Honda sales in China fell 28% in November opposite to the same month of 2023, while production fell by 38% in the annual shift.
Any spending Honda may need to do to catch up could be impacted by its ¥1.1 trillion ($7 billion) buyback, S&P Global Inc. said in a report. “Large-scale share repurchases do not contribute to strengthening the future business base and result in capital outflows,” the ratings company noted.
Honda announced the buyback on Monday. The upper limit amounts to 24% of issued shares. Stock in Honda closed up 0.8% on Wednesday.
Nissan China’s sales fell 15. 1% in November, while local production fell 26%.
Worldwide, Honda sales last month fell from 6. 7% to 324,504 sets, while production fell by 20. 4%. Nissan’s global sales decreased 1. 3% in the annual change in November 278,763 cars, while production received greater success with 14. 3%.
Together, Honda and Nissan would also pose more of a threat to Toyota Motor Corp., which is the world’s biggest automaker followed by Germany’s Volkswagen AG. Its global sales plateaued in November as lackluster demand coalesced with a pause in production at two of its plants.
Toyota’s sales: add those of Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. – totaled 984,348 sets last month, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday, up 0. 2% from November 2023. Production fell 9. 4% year-on-year to 966,921 sets.
Toyota’s business also feels the voltage of electric cars made in China, as well as an intense festival of hybrid electric cars in the United States. Like Honda and Nissan, their control in the markets throughout Southeast Asia is also eroding through Chinese competitors.
More broadly, weaker global demand this year for new cars was compounded by output cuts at Toyota caused by regulatory probes and recalls in Japan and abroad. Production between January and November fell 7.3% in Japan and 15.2% in China for Toyota, again underscoring the rising competition in Asia’s biggest economy.
Toyota’s production in China, or off-line vehicles, as opposed to final consumer sales, fell 1. 6 year-over-year last month.
However, investors raised the shoulders of Toyota stagnated sales after Nikkei reports that the company plans to double its investment objective at 20%. Toyota goes back in investment in recent years has several of 9% less than 16%, Nikkei said.