GM, Ford sales increase sharply in China as country turns away from Japanese brands

George Kennedy — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, China, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, Toyota

American automakers that conduct business in China have benefited from growing anti-Japanese sentiments among Chinese buyers, as most recent sales numbers indicate. According to Automotive News, a territorial dispute over uninhabited islands have resulted in Chinese consumers rejecting vehicles from Toyota, Honda and Nissan in increasing numbers.

Meanwhile, sales of General Motors cars and minivans in its largest market grew 14 percent in October, to 251,812. Ford moved 60,518 units in China, representing a 48-percent increase in sales compared to the same month a year ago.

Meanwhile, Toyota, Honda and Nissan sales have all taken nosedives. Toyota reported that its sales fell 44 percent last month, following a 49-percent drop in September. The latter two companies both announced their worst month-to-month decline in sales, dating back to 2007 for Honda and 2008 for Nissan.

Still yet to be announced are Volkswagen sales in China. The German automaker has been battling GM for the top sales spot in China this year, and it outsold GM last quarter for the first time in eight years. When we last checked in on the two companies, GM had a slight year-to-date lead of 77,000 units.

GM, Ford sales increase sharply in China as country turns away from Japanese brands originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Audi distances itself from Chinese dealer with 'We Must Exterminate The Japanese' banner

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:44:00 EST

Filed under: China, Government/Legal, Japan, Audi

Some background: if you've scanned news headlines over the past few weeks, you've probably come across mentions of a spat between China and Japan over some islands in the East China Sea. The territorial controversy isn't new, as both countries have claimed ownership of the group of uninhabited islands - which the Chinese call Diaoyu and the Japanese call Senkaku - for a while. The tension has been climbing recently, however, because the owner of the islands sold them to Japan, after which various groups of Chinese and Japanese nationals have been alternately heading to the islands and planting their country's flag, each incident provoking a more vocal response.

The Chinese man-in-the-street takes the issue so seriously that there have been regular, and large, demonstrations over the matter, and even retailers are getting into it. An Audi dealer in China posted the photo above with employees posing under a banner that reports say reads, "Even if China becomes nothing but tombstones, we must exterminate the Japanese; even if we have to destroy our own country, we must take back the Diaoyu Islands," or an alternate translation (there are a few), "We will kill every Japanese person even if it means death for our own; even poverty will not deter us from reclaiming the Diayou Islands." You get the point.

Audi, naturally, has released a statement to "categorically distance ourselves from this action" and say that it had no place in the discussion of political matters. Although Audi isn't the only car company to have been pulled into the fracas - Volkswagen and Ford dealers have made banners of their own - it looks like Audi has become the face of it because that particular banner happens to have been the most extreme that anyone's reported on so far. Japanese bloggers and even a Taiwanese humor site have wondered if Audi should do more to apologize. Meanwhile, Japanese carmakers have stopped production in China while the looting, smashing and burning of Japanese cars and stores - and a Rolex boutique - and the hanging of a lot of other eye-popping banners at other Chinese retailers continues in the People's Republic.

Audi distances itself from Chinese dealer with 'We Must Exterminate The Japanese' banner originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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