New York Times (May 30)
“E-commerce has been embraced for all manner of goods and services — books, travel, groceries, electronics — but auto sales have resisted the trend.” Consumers do frequently conduct research over the internet, but ultimately “have gone to dealers for most transactions. With the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, that is changing.”
Tags: Auto sales, Books, Consumers, Dealers, E-commerce, Electronics, Goods, Groceries, Internet, Research, Services, Travel
WARC (March 3)
“US brands face a mixed reaction in China, as consumers react to the presidency of Donald Trump and his threat to impose tariffs on imports from that country.” Following his first month in office, “41.2% of Chinese consumers had a more negative view of the US.” while just “8.1% viewed the US more positively.” It remains to be seen whether American brands will face the intensely negative blowback that caused Japanese auto sales to contract by more than a third following the negative press surrounding a 2012 territorial dispute with Japan.
Tags: Auto sales, Blowback, Brands, China, Consumers, Imports, Japan, Tariffs, Territorial dispute, Threat, Trump, U.S.
Bloomberg (September 2)
“Japan’s lowest auto sales in three years are reviving concerns that manufacturing will hollow out in Asia’s second-largest economy.” This could deliver a blow to Prime Minister Abe’s “efforts to revive the economy, which last quarter contracted the most since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.”
Tags: Abe, Asia, Auto sales, Contraction, Earthquake, Economy, Japan, Manufacturing, Tsunami
