The practice of Honda China officially disclosing its sales data on a monthly basis has not changed, despite a continuous decline in sales over the past eight months.
On October 10, Honda's official data revealed a 42.9% drop in sales within China, with only 62,586 vehicles sold, marking eight consecutive months of decline.
In the first nine months of this year, with the exception of a significant year-on-year increase of 57.3% in January, all other months have seen a decline. Notably, in the last three months, sales have dropped by more than 40% each month. Specifically, in July, Honda China's end vehicle sales were 52,567 units, a year-on-year decrease of 41.4%; in August, sales dropped to 56,959 units, down 44.29% year-on-year; and in September, sales fell to 62,586 units, a drop of 42.93% compared to the same month last year.
For the first nine months of 2024, Honda's total end vehicle sales in China amounted to 588,018 units, representing a year-on-year decline of 29.27%.
Honda attributes its continuous sales decline to the absence of new energy products. According to Japanese media reports, a Honda public relations spokesperson stated, “In the context of a shrinking overall market and the growing demand for new energy vehicles, (Honda) has not been able to fully introduce such products.”
In fact, Japanese automakers that primarily sell fuel vehicles have generally struggled to achieve sales growth in China, with their declines being less severe than Honda's. In September, Toyota's sales fell by 9.2% to 160,500 vehicles, marking eight consecutive months of decline. Nissan experienced a year-on-year decrease of 3.8%, with sales totaling 61,395 vehicles, also showcasing six months of falling sales.
Honda operates two joint ventures in China: Dongfeng Honda and GAC Honda. According to disclosed production and sales reports, Dongfeng Honda's sales in September were 31,316 units, reflecting a year-on-year decline of 56.26%, which was steeper than GAC Honda's decrease.
This situation may also prompt Dongfeng Honda to accelerate its transition to new energy vehicles.
On October 11, the production launch event for Dongfeng Honda's new energy vehicle factory took place in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone. Officials stated that this new energy factory project is Honda's first global new energy factory and a key project for Dongfeng's transformation and development. The facility has an annual production capacity of 120,000 pure electric passenger vehicles, with the initial models slated for production including the “Lingxi L” and “Ye S7.”
