Total demand for passenger cars and commercial vehicles in Japan for calendar year 2011 will be 4.25 million units, down 14.2% from the previous year, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association – JAMA, which has now issued its first forecast since December of 2010.
That late 2010 JAMA forecast was worthless, of course, because of the subsequent earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan in March of this year.
Factors also working against the projection were a strong Yen, which changed the economic generic cialis online environment for the export oriented Japanese companies, changes in consumer confidence, and severe disruptions in automakers’ supply chains. The ongoing rise of export-oriented Korean automakers was also a factor, but unmentioned by JAMA in its statement.
The much ballyhooed anticipation that post-quake reconstruction activities would trigger a year-on-year increase in demand for standard and small-size trucks beginning in the fourth quarter is not in the new forecast. Overall, demand for trucks in 2011 is forecast to fall from the previous year’s level.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
