Suzuki Motor’s sales in ASEAN (four countries) in the first half of 2021 increased 39.0% year-on-year to 69,000 units. Although sales in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam increased compared to the same period of 2020 when demand sharply dropped due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, sales in Thailand declined. Looking at sales by country in the first half of 2021, Indonesia, which accounts for more than 60% of Suzuki’s ASEAN sales, saw demand increase 46.2% year-on-year to 42,000 units, but the automaker’s market share decreased 0.3 pp to 10Read more...

Mazda’s vehicle sales in ASEAN (six countries) in 2020 fell 20.4% year-on-year to 90,000 units due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, but the automaker’s market share increased 0.3 pp to 3.5%. Sales in Thailand declined 32.5% to 39,000 units and fell 1.5% to 32,000 units in Vietnam. In contrast, sales rose 4.2% to 12,000 units in Malaysia. Sales in the first half of 2021 increased 28.2% year-on-year to 42,000 units. Sales in Thailand, Mazda’s largest market in ASEAN, increased 22.7% to 19,000 units, and the automaker’s market share went uRead more...

In ASEAN, due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection, Nissan Motor saw an over 20% drop in both production and sales in 2020 from the previous year. In the first half of 2021, production went up in Malaysia and Thailand. The increase compared to the same period of the previous year is due to the pandemic in 2020 which temporarily suspended automobile production. Meanwhile, sales increased more than 30% in Malaysia, but decreased 25.5% to 16,000 units in Thailand, which is Nissan’s largest market in ASEAN. Looking at production in the first halRead more...

India’s automobile sales in the first half of 2021 increased 91.9% year-on-year to 1.89 million units. The sharp rise compared to the same period of the previous year is due to India’s nationwide lockdown from the end of March until mid-May 2020, which effectively suspended automobile sales and production, triggered by the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection. Although the Indian automobile market showed a remarkable recovery compared to the same period of 2020, the sales volume in the first six months of 2021 did not reach the level of the firstRead more...

Pakistan’s sales of locally-assembled automobiles in the first half of 2021 increased 2.3 times year-on-year to 104,000 units. The sharp rise is due to nationwide lockdown during the first six months of 2020 (from end of March until mid-May), which is the subject of comparison, triggered by the new coronavirus infection. Although sales have not returned to the pre-corona level of 2019 and before, the reduction of Federal Excise Duty on automobiles in July 2021 has significantly reduced prices which in turn is expected to boost demand. Looking at the sRead more...

The introduction of Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) emission standards in April 2020 prompted automakers to reduce the use of diesel engines. Two automakers Maruti Suzuki and Nissan have gone so far to completely drop diesel engines from their engine lineup. Prior to the launch of BS6, small vehicles were fitted with gasoline engines while medium and large ones with diesel engines. The launch of BS6 has prompted Maruti Suzuki to end the sales of diesel models and focus on gasoline-powered products only. The automaker’s product lineup consists of small models Read more...

Taiwan’s automobile sales in the first six months of 2021 increased 5.7% year-on-year to 222,000 units. Initially, Taiwan has succeeded in suppressing the new coronavirus infection, but the number of infected people exceeded 700 in one week in mid-May 2021, resulting in a 30% decrease in automobile sales in June. However, since the end of June, the daily number of infected people has been kept below 100. Looking at sales by vehicle type, passenger cars such as sedans and hatchbacks continued to decline, going down 12.6% to 65,000 units. On the other hRead more...

South Korea’s automobile sales in the first half of 2021 decreased 2.6% from the same period of the previous year to 902,000 units, becoming the second highest level ever after the previous year’s historic high. Sales of locally-made vehicles decreased 5.5% to 750,000 units, while imported vehicle sales increased 15.2% to 152,000 units. Electric vehicles went up 48.5% to 118,000 units, increasing their market share to 13.1%. Of which, hybrids rose 25.4% to 74,000 units and electric vehicles increased 90.7% to 28,000 units. Looking at sales by vehicle Read more...

In the first half of 2021, motorcycle sales in nine Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam) increased 33.6% from the same period of the previous year to 13.7 million units. The sharp increase in sales is due to a 40% drop in the same period of the previous year triggered by the first wave of the new coronavirus infection. The sales results in the first half of 2021 are less than 80% compared to the first half of 2019 before the outbreak of the pandemic. Looking at motorcycle sales by reRead more...

Vietnam’s automobile sales in the first six months of 2021 increased 40.4% year-on-year to 150,000 units according to the announcement of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) which only releases data on member companies. It was about the same level as in the first half of 2019 when sales reached 154,000 units, recovering from the deep slump of 107,000 units in the first six months of 2020 caused by the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection. If the sales total of two non-VAMA members Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam (HTCV), a local subsiRead more...

New registration of automobiles in Singapore in the first six months of 2021 increased 60.0% from the same period of the previous year to 33,000 units. The sharp increase is due to the suspension of the issuance of Certificate of Entitlement (COE) and the temporary closure of automobile dealerships from April to June in the previous year as a result of the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection. However, Singapore’s government has restricted the rate of increase in passenger vehicle ownership to 0% from February 2018 to January 2022. The number of newRead more...

In the first half of 2021, Malaysia’s automobile sales increased 43.6% year-on-year to 249,000 units. The sharp increase is due to new coronavirus restrictions during the same period of the previous year which lasted a month and a half. However, sales in the first six months of 2021 did not reach the 300,000-unit level of the same period in 2019. Full-year sales in 2021 is forecast by Malaysia’s automobile association MAA to drop 5.6% to 500,000 units compared to 2020 due to the reemergence of the virus which prompted Malaysian authorities to declare natRead more...

Indonesia’s automobile sales in the first six months of 2021 increased 50.8% year-on-year to 393,000 units. In the previous year, which is the subject of comparison, large-scale social restrictions were implemented from March due to the spread of the new coronavirus. In addition, the reduction of luxury tax, which covers automobiles among other products, was implemented in March 2021. These factors significantly increased sales in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020. However, in addition to the introduction of stricter automobile lRead more...

The Indian passenger vehicle market has a long-term growth potential, backed by a population of 1.3 billion people. However, the Indian market also has some special aspects which negatively affect sales, such as the automobile tax system based on the “total length of 4m” regulation and the price-sensitive consumption tendency rooted in the spirit of “Value for Money” concept. These are well-known issues to those involved in automobile sales in India. Looking at India’s passenger vehicle market in terms of powertrain systems, diesel engines will continRead more...

The proportion of diesel vehicles in the Indian passenger vehicle market fell below 20% in 2020. According to data released by Haymarket SAC Publishing (India), which publishes automobile magazines in India, the ratio of diesel vehicles decreased 15.3pp from the previous year to 17.3% in 2020. Diesel vehicle ratio peaked at 54% in 2012 but has been continuing to decline. The introduction of BS6 emission regulations (equivalent to Euro 6) in April 2020 sped up the rate of decline. In 2020, India’s passenger vehicle sales were made up of about 1.78 millRead more...