Japan auto sales at 34-year low

When the numbers for December were tallied up, the beancounters realised that the Japanese car market had tumbled 22.3 per cent in the last month of the year, bringing the annual average lower by 6.5 per cent.

That adds up to 3.2 million cars sold in 2008, that is nearly as bad as 1974 wehn the industry shifted only 3.1 million cars after the oil shock of the 1970s.

Read the full AFP report below

Japan auto sales fall to 34-year low in 2008: industry group

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TOKYO (AFP) — New vehicle sales in Japan slumped to the lowest level in three decades in 2008 as recession hit Asia’s biggest economy, piling pressure on its auto giants, an industry group said Monday.

Domestic sales, excluding mini-vehicles, tumbled 6.5 percent from the previous year to 3.2 million units, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.

It was the lowest level since 1974 in the wake of the first oil shock, when automakers had sold 3.1 million vehicles.

The sales slump worsened towards the end of the year. In December alone sales fell 22.3 percent from a year earlier to 183,549 vehicles.

The Japanese auto market has been shrinking in recent years as many young people shun cars, particularly in cities, due to sluggish wages and high running costs.

The global economic downturn has taken a heavy toll on Japanese automakers, which rely heavily on exports for their earnings.

Japan’s top carmaker Toyota Motor Corp. last month forecast an operating loss of 150 billion yen (1.6 billion dollars) for the financial year to March 2009, which would be its first ever annual loss.

Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have also been hit by falling earnings, although they are still in better shape than their US rivals, which have been forced to seek a government bailout to stave off bankruptcy.