Japan’s OEMs may face long-term decline in China without M&A

Toyota released its sales, production, and export results for H1 2024 on 30 July 2024. The data shows that worldwide production fell 13% during the previous month to around 796,000 units. Although it claimed strong demand still exists in North America and Europe, the world’s top-selling OEM stated that a drop-off in Asian markets caused the decline. Sales in Asia fell 7% in June 2024, with Thailand (-11%), Malaysia (-12%), China (-13%), Japan (-14%), and South Korea (-35%) all affected.

While decreased production in Toyota’s home market could be explained by an ongoing safety test scandal currently under investigation by the Japanese government, it perhaps doesn’t account for the wider picture. The automaker’s report also comes days after rumours that Mitsubishi might form an alliance with Nissan and Honda. Amid the turbulence caused by connected, autonomous, shared, and electric (CASE) mobility trends disrupting the traditional industry, Asian automotive is experiencing a period of reconfiguration.