International view Japan


DOMESTIC NEW BIKE and scooter sales in Japan in 2012 totalled 401,895 units, down 0.9 per cent on 2011 (405,533 units). These figures include imports. For a country with a population of 128 million, the figures represent more than double UK consumption per head of population (UK consumption 93,667 units 2012: population 64 million), but they are dismal when compared to the great years of the Japanese domestic industry. In 1982 the Japanese home


market took 3.285 million PTWs, a stupendous record. But the world was different then. At that time Japanese youth was thrilled to be caught up in the whirlwind of exciting two-wheel product from the home factories. Come the new millennium and seven-figure domestic sales became an impossible dream. Sales hit an all time low in 2010 when 380,242 new machines were registered. The slight improvement to more than 400,000 home sales in 2011 was, however, quite an achievement considering the disruption to home production because of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in March that year. Like the rest of the world,


Japan was affected by the global recession which hit in 2008 and badly hurt sales in 2009. As well as this major influence there have been other factors constraining the buying and use of two- wheelers in this densely populated country. In recent years Japanese youths


have been increasingly turning to computer games for their kicks, rather than burning rubber. The percentage of young people making up the population has diminished, and young Japanese are, in general, not as interested


in motorcycles as previous generations were.


Also, in the 1980s, high schools banned students from riding to school on motorcycles and scooters. Parking for PTWs in cities became more restricted and parking wardens were more active. And it wasn’t until 2005 that it was permitted to carry a pillion, and then it was on motorcycles only, and on expressways only. Sales now look


Japan 2012 sales by month Up to 50cc 51-125cc 126-250cc Over 250cc Total Change 16,415 6,302 1,811 1,551 26,079 -9.5%


Jan


Feb 17,993 7,637 2,612 2,664 30,906 -10.2% Mar 29,780 10,563 3,209 2,580 46,132 21.9% Apr


24,053 6,217 3,189 2,978 36,437 6.4%


to have stabilised in Japan, where the twist’n’go scooter is gaining ground, particularly among women young and old. There is also growing interest in machines over 125cc, though you can see from the monthly tables that machines up to 50cc claim the lion’s share of sales. This review deals only with


Japanese domestic sales. From it one might deduce that the Japanese Big Four (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki) are in trouble. Well, they face plenty of challenges in today’s market. But none of them let the grass grow under their feet, and increasingly they have developed overseas sales and manufacture. To give an idea of scale, Honda, for example, sold 16.3 million units worldwide in 2011 and 15.5 million in 2012. Of that production the Japanese home market bought 219,000 and 221,000 units respectively. However, this 2012 home consumption is only 1.4 per cent of the Big H total global output. 


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70 MARCH 2013


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May 20,277 7,868 4,310 2,167 34,622 0.2% Jun 20,368 7,194 4,035 2,925 34,522 -0.9% Jul


19,602 5,936 4,125 2,494 32,157 -16.4%


Aug 18,472 6,874 3,971 1,497 30,814 -8.1% Sep 25,679 7,851 3,877 2,087 39,494 1.3% Oct


18,997 8,743 3,178 1,665 32,583 8.0%


Nov 16,921 8,742 2,689 1,795 30,147 9.4% Dec 17,538 6,364 2,701 1,399 28,002 1.6% Total 246,095 90,291 39,707 25,802 401,895 -0.9%


Annual motorcycle and scooter sales in Japan 2000 _____________________ 779,877 2001 _____________________ 750,686 2002 _____________________ 771,082 2003 _____________________ 760,121 2004 _____________________ 700,021 2005 _____________________ 706,513 2006 _____________________ 700,366 2007 _____________________ 684,944 2008 _____________________ 522,315 2009 _____________________ 380,777 2010 _____________________ 380,242 2011 _____________________ 405,533 2012 _____________________ 401,895


Source: Japanese Automobile Manufacturer’s Association


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INDEX


International statistics


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