Reuters (January 28)
“Japan’s car market is ripe for consolidation. Years of falling sales both at home and abroad had already been putting financial pressure on several of the country’s seven major automakers.” The Nissan/Honda merger fell through, “but a Suzuki Motor takeover of Mazda Motor would be a smart move.”
Tags: Abroad, Automakers, Car market, Consolidation, Falling sales, Financial pressure, Honda, Japan, Mazda, Merger Suzuki, Nissan, Smart
Reuters (July 15)
“Toyota and Hyundai Motor may have a beef with U.S. protectionism, but they have one thing in common with President Donald Trump: when it comes to global car markets, it’s America first for Asia’s legacy automakers.” With the outlook “upended” by Trump’s tariffs, the U.S. still “remains by far the most important market for Japan’s Toyota, South Korea’s Hyundai and Asian rivals including Honda and Nissan. North America accounts for at least 40% of the revenue at both Toyota and Hyundai.”
Tags: Car markets, Honda, Hyundai, Japan, Legacy automakers, Nissan, Outlook, Protectionism, South Korea, Tariffs, Toyota, Trump, U.S., Upended
Reuters (December 18)
“If only M&A solved everything. Japan’s Nissan Motor and Honda Motor certainly need help.” A merger, possibly involving Mitsubishi Motors as well, could potentially achieve cost cuts, “but as Stellantis’s woes show, tie-ups alone don’t create great manufacturers.”
Tags: Cost cuts, Honda, Japan, M&A, Manufacturers, Merger, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Stellantis, Tie-ups, Woes
Reuters (November 29)
“It’s time for Toyota Motor’s two biggest domestic rivals to deal with their problems by joining forces. Nissan Motor’s woes are the more obvious: poor results prompted the $9 billion manufacturer into an emergency overhaul this month. But $40 billion Honda Motor’s autos unit is subpar, too. Welding them together would give scope to cut costs, charge earnings and invest more efficiently and effectively in electric vehicles and other technology.”
Tags: Costs, Earnings, Effectively, Efficiently, Emergency, EVs, Honda, Nissan, Overhaul, Results, Rivals, Technology, Toyota, Woes
Bloomberg (November 27)
“As China’s assault on the world’s automotive industry gathers speed, Japan’s national champions are emerging as some of the biggest victims. In China itself, the world’s largest car market, Japanese automakers are fighting for survival as local competitors flood showrooms” with EVs. Chinese carmakers are also “pushing into Southeast Asia, rapidly gaining ground in what has long been a stronghold for legacy brands like Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi.” We’ve transitioned from “Made in Japan to Made in China,” with Japan’s share of global passenger car production essentially halved (from 21.6% to 11.4%) over the past 25 years while China’s share has rocketed from 1.4% to 38.4% in 2023.
Tags: Automakers, Automotive industry, Car market, Carmakers, China, Competitors, EVs, Honda, Japan, Legacy brands, Mitsubishi, Southeast Asia, Stronghold, Survival, Toyota, Victims
Wall Street Journal (August 17)
“Volkswagen, GM and other big brands are losing their grip on a once-lucrative market as Chinese consumers embrace homegrown electric vehicles.” The issue is broad ranging. “Manufacturers from China’s Asian neighbors aren’t faring better… Toyota’s Chinese JV income fell 73% in the quarter through June compared with the same period of 2023, while Honda’s equity income was all but wiped out.” China is turning into “a money pit for foreign automakers.”
Tags: Big brands, China, Consumers, Equity, EVs, GM, Homegrown, Honda, Income, JV, Manufacturers, Market, Money pit, Once-lucrative, Toyota, Volkswagen
Forbes (February 18)
“Drawn by generous incentives and the opportunity to sell directly into a unifying Europe, the car industry became a poster child for inward investment.” Now the survival of this industry in the UK is at stake. Honda’s scheduled plant closing “comes after last month’s announcement of up to 4,500 job losses at Jaguar Land Rover and news that Nissan’s new X-Trail model is to be made in Japan, not Sunderland.” Furthermore, “Toyota and Ford have warned of negative consequences in the case of Britain editing the European Union without a negotiated deal.”
Tags: Car industry, EU, Europe, Ford, Honda, Incentives, Investment, Jaguar Land Rover, Job losses, Nissan, Survival, Toyota, UK
CNN (July 2)
“Every US-made car is an import,” which means US automakers could get stung bad by tariffs. According to a measure used by regulators, “the two most ‘American’ cars are both Hondas—the Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup,” each of which boast about 75% of components made in the US or Canada. “The Honda Civic, Acura MDX, Acura TLX and the Mercedes C-class source 70% from the United States and Canada. The highest-ranked car made by a Detroit automaker is the Chevrolet Corvette, which placed seventh” at about 65%. GM has already warned that “tariffs could force the company to cut jobs at US plants due to an expected drop in sales associated with higher prices.”
Bloomberg (February 5)
Slowdowns at West Coast ports have already disrupted the operations of Honda, Subaru, Toyota and McDonalds. Now it looks like the “union-led work slowdowns could shut the U.S. West Coast’s 29 ports in five to 10 days” unless a new contract deal is accepted. Excepting Toyota, all of the mentioned companies have resorted to the expensive airlifting of some cargo.
Tags: Airlifting, Cargo, Honda, McDonald's, Ports, Slowdowns, Subaru, Toyota, U.S., Union, West Coast
USA Today (November 9)
Instead of urgent action to remove defective air bags from vehicles, “air bag maker Takata and its biggest customer, Honda, conducted glacial, piecemeal recalls that have left drivers in jeopardy.” Why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasn’t done more remains a mystery, though it’s clear why the other parties have dallied. “The problem might pose an existential threat” for Takata. “And for Honda, finding and replacing the faulty air bags—installed in many models for many years—imposes a massive cost.”
