The market share of cars made in Japan on track to become lowest in decades this year, due to Toyota’s supply shortage and correlated with the rapid growth in imports from China.
Over the past 19 years, the average annual market share of Japanese-made cars in Australia has been 32.7%, with the lowest figure since our records began at 27.6% in 2016. and the highest was 38.3% in 2005.
However, so far in 2023, Japanese-made cars account for 27.3% of total sales, with 124,535 units out of a total of 456,833 units worldwide originating from the Land of the Rising Sun.
While this means the country is still Australia’s largest source of vehicle imports ahead of Thailand, the market share figure is at its lowest level since at least 2005 – i.e. from our database. we.
To better understand this market share information, consider that Australians received almost 22,000 more (21,896) Japanese-made cars in the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2023.
In other words, a few percentage points of market share equates to tens of thousands of cars, as the table below hopes to demonstrate.
| Calendar year | Made in Japan | Total market | % From Japan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 (YTD) | 124,535 | 456.833 | 27.3% |
| 2022 | 330,061 | 1,081,429 | 30.5% |
| 2021 | 350,934 | 1,049,831 | 33.4% |
| 2020 | 309,601 | 916,968 | 33.8% |
| 2019 | 334,075 | 1,062.867 | 31.4% |
| 2018 | 356.230 | 1.153.111 | 30.9% |
| 2017 | 341,663 | 1.189,116 | 28.7% |
| 2016 | 325.689 | 1.178.133 | 27.6% |
| 2015 | 335.288 | 1,155,408 | 29.0% |
| 2014 | 329,009 | 1.113,224 | 29.6% |
| two thousand and thirteen | 362,058 | 1.136,227 | 31.9% |
| 2012 | 390,289 | 1.112,032 | 35.1% |
| 2011 | 331,904 | 1,008,437 | 32.9% |
| 2010 | 356,968 | 1,035.574 | 34.5% |
| 2009 | 334.655 | 937,328 | 35.7% |
| 2008 | 378,992 | 1.012,164 | 37.4% |
| 2007 | 369,875 | 1,049,982 | 35.2% |
| 2006 | 367,443 | 962,666 | 38.2% |
| 2005 | 378,758 | 988,269 | 38.3% |
The decline in sales of Japanese-made cars this year coincided with a spike in deliveries of Chinese-made cars, to 72,619 units by 2023.
This number increased by nearly 80% over the same period last year and equivalent to 15.9% market share. Popular brands that source all their cars from China include MG (seventh overall), Tesla (eighth), GWM (13th) and LDV (16th).
It should come as no surprise that the five automakers that lost the most sales and market share in 2023 compared to the same period last year (YoY) were all Japanese – although of course not all cars due to All Japanese brands sold are actually made in Japan. Our data above is automotive-specific made in Japanfor clarity.
From the beginning of 2023:
- overall market – 4.3 percent increase or 18,949 units
- Toyota – 27.9% off or 27,529 pieces
- Mitsubishi – 28.5% off or 10,240 pieces
- Mazda – down 6.8 percent or 2969 units
- suzuki – down 17.8 percent or 1551 units
- Honda’s motobike – down 14.3% or 943 units
Toyota has been hit harder by stock shortages than other brands simply because of its sheer size, with wait times for mainstream models reaching up to two years at times. Its YTD market share of 15.6% is worrisome, as it has been north of 20% for many years now.
Although not all Toyotas sold here are from Japan – HiLux from Thailand, for example – their vehicles have the biggest drop rates.
This is specifically RAV4 (40 percent off), Prado (down 52.5 percent), corolla (down 47.8 percent), C-HR (down 47.6 percent) and camry (down 38.1 percent).
It’s a slightly different story for Mitsubishi triton And sports pajero – again, both are made in Thailand – is responsible for that brand’s decline.
From the beginning of 2023, sales by country of manufacture
- Japan – 124,535 pieces, 15% off
- Thailand – 97,237 units, down 5.6%
- China – 72,619, up 78.6%
- Korea – 65,771, up 3.3%
- Germany – 19,829, up 31.9%
- overall market – 4.3 percent increase
While it’s not all that significant yet, it’s very likely that many private buyers and Australian fleets will shun Japanese cars in the future due to the lack of electric vehicles from there.
Electric vehicle sales in Australia hit a record 32,050 units this year, quadrupling year-on-year and accounting for 7.0% market share.
Not yet none of the top 10 are from Japanwith the best-selling products coming from China and to a lesser extent Korea and Germany.
Look forward launch schedule of car manufacturersit’s unlikely this scenario will change that much in the near future.
THAN: Tram coming to Australia, launch schedule and what’s already here
THAN: Australia car sales spike, best May results ever
