Tokyo motor no-show; Japan snubbed as market shrinks
- Source: Global Times
- [01:35 October 14 2009]
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The list of participants at the Tokyo Motor Show says it all – the Japanese car market is sinking into irrelevance.
At least that is the mood ahead of the biennial event opening next week as one carmaker after another canceled its attendance, leaving just two boutique brands from overseas – Lotus and Alpina.
It is a sea change from two years ago, when top guns from Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW all flew in to jazz up their booths despite their cars' limited presence in the world's third-largest auto market.
The rare, razor-thin turnout at the Tokyo Motor Show – traditionally considered one of the industry's five big international shows – underscores the waning fortunes of Japan's once-buoyant market.
At the Tokyo Motor Show, opening to media on October 21, carmakers will showcase 19 world-premiere cars, down from 37 in 2007. Floor space will be less than half that of the previous show.
Demographically, Japan is suffering the double blow of a shrinking population and a rapid exodus from the countryside to cities, where owning a car can be a hassle due to expensive parking lots and congested roads. Auto executives also blame a fading interest in cars among young Japanese.
In Tokyo, home to a 10th of Japan's population and counting, car ownership is under 0.5 per household, or less than half the national average.
Furthermore, the financial crisis has many automakers losing money and it is little surprise that some members of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association (JAMA) had initially proposed doing away with the Tokyo Motor Show all together this year. The four domestic truck makers all pulled out early on.
For the financial year to March, JAMA, the industry's lobby group, forecasts sales of 4.3 million new cars and trucks, a 32-year low and down 8 percent from last year.
The government has helped stem some of the sales slide with reduced taxes since April on less-polluting cars, and a separate scheme to reward new purchases to replace older ones.
