Japanese mini vehicle maker Daihatsu Motor said today that it expected sales in Japan this year to rise 1.5 percent to 550,000 vehicles, cutting a forecast issued late last year by parent company Toyota Motor, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, Toyota said in December it expected Daihatsu’s domestic vehicle sales to increase four percent to 570,000 vehicles in 2002.
“Competition in the small car market is intense. Minivehicle makers are coming out with new cars and Nissan will be releasing its new subcompact in March, which comes on the heels of Honda’s Fit,” Reuters quoted Daihatsu president Takaya Yamada telling a news conference in Japan.
Daihatsu also forecast exports at 74,000 vehicles, up 15 percent from last year but slightly down from Toyota’s earlier forecast of 80,000, Reuters said.
Daihatsu lost market share in the minivehicle segment led by Suzuki last year, slipping to 27.7 percent from 27.8 percent, the news agency added.
Yamada told the press conference that Daihatsu had been outdone in “product details” and suffered from a weaker distribution system — areas which it planned to correct this year, Reuters said.
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By GlobalDataIt cited Yamada as saying that Suzuki planned to launch a minivehicle sports car this summer, priced at around 1.5 million yen ($US11,310) but the company was looking at monthly sales of only 1,000 units.
The company is also about to start a year-long test programme of a new petrol-electric hybrid vehicle, Yamada added.
Reuters said that Japanese production of Daihatsu brand vehicles in 2002 was expected to be 2.9 percent higher at 624,000 but total domestic production was expected to fall 6.7 percent to 711,000 as the subsidiary ended assembly of some vehicles it makes for Toyota. Overseas production was forecast to rise five percent to 140,000.