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Monthly Archive for August, 2009

Used vehicle exports in January-June drop 58% to 290,989 units

20th August 2009
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Used vehicle exports in June totaled 56,112 units, down 52.6% from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Finance Customehouse statistics. It was the 9th consecutive month of year-on-year decline since last October. The June exports this year, which were the lowest result for the month since 2003, were also up 10.7% compared with the previous month.

Eight destinations, including the Philippines, posted year on year increases in June.

Chile became the largest destination for used vehicles from Japan in June. Exported volume to that nation totaled 6,428 units, down 37.6% year on year. The average FOB price remained flat.

United Arab Emirates ranked second with 6,344 units, showing a decline of 5.7%.

Exported used vehicles to Russia Dropped from previous year’s 51,160 units to 4,707 units. The Russian goverment widened the range of its quarantine system for imported goods to include used vehicles as of July 15. Cost of obtaining a quarantine certificate is between 2,000 yen to 3,000 yen, according to local sources.

Exports to Kenya, ranked fourth, were 4,326 units, down 1.2%. Used vehicles bound for New Zealand, ranked fifth, totaled 3,996 units, down 3.2%. Exports to South Africa, ranked sixth, were 3,580 units, down 2.8% year on year.

Exports to Bangladesh, which announced the raise of import tariff in June, were 1,981 units, down 10.6%.

The Philippines(up 12.6%), Suriname (up 125.9%), Tanzania (up 17.7%), and Thailand (up 14.3%) also saw year on year increases. Myanmar and Turkey showed remarkable increases for June.

The U.S., Dominican Rep., Trinidad and Tobago, and Pakistan outwent from the top 25 list this year, while Georgia, Turkey, Guyana newly joined the list.

For the first six months of this year, used vehicle exports totaled 290,989 units, down 58,4%, or 407,779 units fewer, compared with the year

Auction association kicks off to a new start

12th August 2009
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On June 11, the Nippon Auto Auction Association (Kyogikai), or NAK for short, held its 2009 General Meeting and decided that the national association will be transformed as an aggregate corporation (shadanhoujin) in October this year.

NAK has so far served as a voluntary organization in the auto auction industry, while seeking to become an aggregate corporation. NAK currently consists of 68 memberships which cover a total of 120 auto auction sites across the country. Its is engaged in the management of its odometer monitoring system, and standardization of the rating rules for used vehicles.

”Once NAK becomes an aggregate corporation, it will be a much more reliable organization that is worthy of expectations even from overseas markers,” said Chief Executive Officer Fujisaki.

Meanwhile, NAK selected a new management team for fiscal 2009, CEO Fujisaki, President of Aucnet Inc., was named the CEO again. Newly appointed directors are USS Co. President Ando, Toyota Usec Co. President Kasai, and Ju Chairman Sawada. Former director Ogawa became director and advisor, while former director Betsui steps down to an advisor.

From October, the new NAK will be led by Chairman Fujisaki, and the three Vice Chairmen (Ando, Kasai and Sawada).

The auto auction industry has been facing hard times since last fall as the number of auctioned vehicles has been decreasing. Amid the difficult conditions, ”NAK must play a big role for the industry. NAK, which started as a voluntary organization, will see further development when it becomes an aggregate corporation.”

Automotive batteries go high grade

07th August 2009
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According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(Keizai Sangyo Sho), sales of automotive batteries in 2008 rose by 13.4% on the year to 119.6 billion yen. This marks the second straight year to show year on year increase.

Factory shipment volume of the batteries(combined total of shipments by GS Yuasa Corp., Panasonic Storage Battery Co., Sin-Kobe Electric Machinery Co., and The Furukawa Battery Co.) in 2008, however, declined 8.2% to 240.4 million units, showing the second consecutive year of decline.

Of the 2008 total, 115.6 billion units were used for new vehicles. The remaining 151.2 billion units were sold mostly by independent car maintenance & repair stations in 2008. Roughly 25% of automotive batteries was handled by them. Car dealers sold 21.3% of total aftermaket batteries. Specialist car parts sohps and tire shops took 18.1% share of the battery sales in the aftermarket.

In rerecent years, sales of high-grade batteries for replacement have been sharply increasing as the demand for vehicles equipped with and alternator-controlling system(Juden-Seigyosha) for fuel saving is expanding. In order to achieve high leves of fuel efficiency as much as possible, carmakers are increasingly making such cars equipped with and alternator-controlling system that requires high-performance batteries.