Auto Sales in Japan Rebound; Honda Recall

Darlington Musarurwa
01 Feb, 2010
New York City

January new vehicles sales rise 36.8% in Japan. U.S regulators approve Toyota

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo – January new vehicles sales rise 36.8% in Japan. U.S regulators approve Toyota’s solution to fix foot pedal problem. Honda launches its worldwide recall to fix power windows. Toshiba Corp. said fiscal year sales are expected to be 5.9% lower.[/R]

The benchmark stock index fell 0.1% in Japan as Toshiba slashed its annual sales forecast by 5.9%.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.1% or 6.98 to 10,205.02, and the broader Topix Index dropped 0.3% to 898.61.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 11.3 billion shares valued at 843 billion yen were traded and in the second section 212 million shares worth 1.7 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 92 gained, 121 fell, and 12 were unchanged. Toto Ltd. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 7.1% followed by Clarion Co. Ltd. advancing 5.7%.

New Vehicle Sales Rise 36.8% in Jan

Japan Automobile Dealers Association said sales of new vehicles advanced 36.8% to 238,362 units in January from a year ago, rising for the sixth straight month.

Passenger car sales edged up 42.8% to 219,844 units, sales of standard-size models surged 68.1% to 106,290 units and small cars jumped 25.2% to 113,554 units.

Sales of standard-size commercial trucks dropped 14.2% to 5,492 units.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s January sales soared 42% to 117,154 vehicles, Nissan Motor Co. sales increased 24.3% jump to 38,260 units and Honda Motor sales climbed 65.3% to 36,510 units.

Sales for Mazda Motor Corp. increased 31.9% to 14,119 units, while Mitsubishi Motors sales jumped 55.7% to 4,652 vehicles.

Total domestic vehicle sales in 2010 are expected to increase 4.1% to 4.8 million.

U.S. Regulators OK’s Toyota’s Recall Plan

Wall Street Journal reported yesterday U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cleared Toyota Motor Corp.’s plan to fix accelerator pedals after recalling 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S.

Toyota will effectively begin shipment of repair parts to dealers this week.

The automaker has since suspended sales of eight models to ensure safety, while production of the models has been suspended at five plants in North America. Production is likely to resume on February 8.

Toshiba Corp. Cuts Sales Forecast 5.9%

Toshiba Corp. reported Friday estimated fiscal year sales to drop 5.9% to 6.4 trillion yen from 6.8 trillion yen on falling demand as the global recession was more “persistent” than earlier forecasted.

However, the company projects an annual loss of 50 billion yen and operating profit of 100 billion yen.

Nikkei Movers

OKUMA Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 8.0% followed by losses in Toshiba Corporation of 6.0%, in Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd of 5.4%, in Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd 5.3% and in Tokyu Land Corporation 4.6%.

Toto Ltd led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 7.0% followed by gains in Clarion Co Ltd 5.7%, in Ajinomoto Co., Inc of 4.9% and in The Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited of 4.6%.

Other Movers

Aozora Bank, Ltd rose 0.8% to ¥116.00 after the bank reported nine months revenues rose 2,747% to ¥54.1 billion from ¥1.9 billion a year ago. Net profit in the nine months was ¥7.3 billion or ¥4.88 per diluted share compared to net loss of ¥109.4 billion or ¥66.48 a year ago.

Fanuc surged 4.4% to ¥9,040 after Nomura Holdings Inc analyst Katsushi Saito lifted his target price to ¥11,000 from ¥10,000.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd declined 2.4% to ¥2,999.00 and January domestic sales increased 65%. The company also said that it is recalling cars worldwide to fix power window units in a largest recall in six years.

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc rose 1.7% to ¥178.00 after the bank reported nine months revenues fell 23% to ¥2.13 trillion from ¥2.78 trillion a year ago. Net profit in the nine months was ¥126.2 billion or ¥8.45 per diluted share compared to net loss of ¥50.5 billion a year ago.

Toshiba Corporation decreased 6% to ¥467.00 after the memory chipmaker a joint venture between the JSW group and company is expected to start operations by January 2011.

Toyota Motor Corporation fell 1.1% to ¥3,450.00 after the company on Friday added up to another 1.8 million vehicles to the recalls, which have now topped 7 million units. The company also plans to send fix this week for the foot pedal acceleration problem.