Honda China auto sales slump almost 30pc in June

BEIJING: Japanese auto maker Honda said Wednesday that its sales in China slumped nearly 30 percent in June from a year ago due to the ongoing impact from Japan's devastating quake and tsunami.

The third-largest vehicle maker in Japan said it sold 35,105 units last month in China, the world's top auto market, down 29.9 percent year on year.

"This is still due to the impact of the earthquake," a Beijing-based Honda spokeswoman told AFP.

"We expect production to get back to normal from this month."

In the first six months of the year, Honda said it sold 271,369 vehicles in China, down 12.3 percent from the same period a year ago.

Honda was forced to temporarily suspend production at its Japan sites after the March 11 disaster crippled crucial component supplies amid a shortage of other parts and power disruptions.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the resulting tsunami destroyed entire towns, left 23,000 dead or missing and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear plant at the centre of an ongoing emergency.

Auto sales in China have hit the brakes in recent months after Beijing phased out sales incentives such as tax breaks for small engine vehicles and some cities restrict car numbers to ease chronic congestion and pollution.

But US auto producer Ford bucked the negative trend, saying in a statement Wednesday that its sales in China rose 11 percent on year in June to 44,442 units.

Sales in the first half of the year reached 274,510 units, up 14 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a statement.

General Motors said Tuesday its sales in China rose 5.3 percent on-year in the first half of 2011 to a record 1.27 million vehicles.

June sales alone were up 9.9 percent on-year at 193,878, boosted by strong demand for passenger cars made by Shanghai GM, its joint venture with China’s largest auto maker SAIC Motor, the US auto giant said in a statement.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011