12 Responses to 'Japanese car sales drop'

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1. Jason said,
   
   

   on May 17th, 2008 at 9:18 pm

   That linked article is so obtuse as to be incomprehensible.

   The headline reads “Japan car sales drop on petrol concerns”, yet the text goes on to say:

   “New vehicle sales peaked at 7.77 million units in 1990, and 2007 sales were 30 per cent below that record, the newspaper said.

   The decline was mainly due to the falling birthrate and declining popularity of cars and motorcycles, the daily said.

   A population shift to metropolitan areas, with their easy access to public transportation, as well as higher petrol prices are also discouraging people from owning cars, it added.”

   So, are car sales dropping because of the falling birthrate, declining popularity, more people living in cities, or higher petrol prices? How did the subeditor pick “petrol concerns” from that lot as the headline cause for the SMH article?

   If car sales have declined since 1990, then they haven’t dropped “for [the] first time” either then Julian.

   What the article does say is that ownership has dropped, and that this is the first time that has happened. They don’t define what “ownership” is – if I were to guess, it sounds like some sort of cars per person type ratio. Then the article goes on to talk about ownership in terms of straight car numbers: “Ownership of both cars and motorcycles totalled 79.43 million at the end of February”. What is that supposed to mean? Has the population of Japan stayed constant for sixty-odd years? No? So what good is a “number of cars” in describing “ownership” then?

   Maybe you’d like to add something to your post, to explain how you interpret the article, and what you see as the implications. Because, as it stands, it just looks so .. pointless.

2. Julian Edgar said,
   
   

   on May 18th, 2008 at 8:54 am

   Title amended

3. Gary said,
   
   

   on May 19th, 2008 at 9:27 am

   sooo whats the news? all i see is a peak in 1990. what didnt we already know, and why did you waste my time with this article?

4. Julian Edgar said,
   
   

   on May 19th, 2008 at 4:50 pm

   I am a bit puzzled by the negativity.

   I didn’t know that Japanese domestic new car sales were falling (let alone down by 30 per cent in 17 years!), and the listed reasons for the decline (falling birthrate, declining popularity of personal vehicles, higher petrol prices and better public transport) are all interesting in themselves.

   But hey, if you don’t think the article is of any interest, that’s fine with me…

5. Jamie said,
   
   

   on May 19th, 2008 at 11:46 pm

   If it’s true that the popularity of cars is “waning” in a major industrial society, I find that extremely interesting.

6. Gary said,
   
   

   on May 20th, 2008 at 11:28 am

   Sorry Julian,

   i was just offput by the article grabbing headlines by claiming current petrol concerns are responsible for the sudden drop in sales, when it that then goes on to say the cause is nothing to do with the price of petrol, and in fact the decline stared nearly 20 years ago.

   You have a very good reputation, so when you recomend people read something, they do.

   It is not clear if you wrote the article on the news website, or simply provided the link to it. Perhaps your thoughts on the subject preceding the link would put it all in perspective.

   Gary.

7. Nigel said,
   
   

   on May 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pm

   Gee Julian, you put a lot of effort into this blog… How about some context and thought provoking verbatim?

8. Julian Edgar said,
   
   

   on May 20th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

   There seems to be some sort of notion that I should discuss everything I post here. If I see something that I think is self-evidently interesting, then as far as I am concerned, posting a link to it it is sufficient.

   Would people have rather that I had not posted the link, and to not do so with similar ones in the future? If so, that’s certainly less effort for me!

9. Tom said,
   
   

   on May 20th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

   Julian I found the article interesting to read, and I think it is relevant.

   Of course you can’t be held responsible for the poor, sensationalist journalism of 3rd party sites, but that headline is so typical of commercial papers trying to attract readers, fuelling (no pun intended) the panic over petrol prices.

10. doctorpat said,
    
    

    on May 21st, 2008 at 10:28 am

    Some commenters seem to be expecting this section of Autospeed to be a column. It’s a blog, (says so at the top). That means that everything from a detailed, footnoted, essay to a commentless link is fair game.

    You’ve got to adjust your expectations. In return, you get more frequent posting.

    Julian, I think you’ve spoiled them with the years of detailed writing you’ve done up till now.

11. John Katayama said,
    
    

    on May 21st, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    Japan is vastly different from Australia in terms of car ownership. Japan has very densely built-up metropolitan areas around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, etc. Consequently. these areas are well served by highly efficient public transportation systems such as Shinkansen (“bullet trains”), integrated subway and train systems. Public transportation in Japan are reliable, fairly regular and though expensive but probably cheaper than owning a car if you don’t do a lot of traveling. As a consequence, most city residents do not even own a car or a driving license. Outside the cities, however, public transportation tends to be inconvenient, and most people have to rely on a car.
    However, owning a car in Japan is fairly cost prohibitive – you need to prove you have a car park space before you are allowed to buy a car. A car park lot can be very expensive to rent or buy especially in Japan’s metropolitan cities. Next, there are bi-annual car inspection (known as “shakken”). Shakken is a compulsory safety inspection, which cars in Japan have to undergo every two years, except new cars, for which the first inspection is not due until three years after purchase. The shakken typically costs between 100,000 and 200,000 Yen, and besides the actual inspection includes a weight tax (typically 8,000 to 50,000 Yen) and a mandatory insurance (about 30,000 Yen). Due to the prohibitive cost of shakken, many Japanese car owners dispose of their car by the third year (before 1st shakken inspection). I believe Australia imports a fair amount of our used cars. Repairs cost are very expensive in Japan!
    Also, petrol prices in Japan are much higher than in Australia and most of the expressways in Japan are toll roads which can add up.

12. Bob Wilson said,
    
    

    on June 11th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

    There was a 40% decline in Prius sales in USA May sales … Toyota sold everyone they had. Meanwhile the dealer lots are filled with prime, recycle material … the kind of utility vehicle that never gets dirty, scratched or overloaded.

    Bob Wilson