In a further sign that growth in the Chinese car market is slowing, Toyota reported that sales by its two local joint venture partners fell 15% in August from a year earlier, a second consecutive monthly decline.
The company’s sales in China totalled about 75,300 during the month following a fall of 5% in July. Toyota said it was not alarmed by the two consecutive monthly declines which it said were caused by a “technical factor”.
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A spokesman explained sales in July and August last year were “unusually high” following three months of sluggish business in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier in 2011.
For the first eight months of this year, Toyota China sales were still running ahead of 2011 and the carmaker is targeting 1m sales in the country this year, up from 883,400 vehicles last year.
