There are tens of millions oversea Chinese drive Toyotas or Hondas as well, one can imagine what it'll do the Japanese car makers if some of them 'decide' they like to buy some other brands.
(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's China sales fell about 40 percent in September from the year before, while those of rivals such as Hyundai and BMW jumped, underscoring how badly Japanese brands have been hit by a territorial row between the two countries.
A prolonged sales hit of this scale could threaten profit forecasts at Toyota, Nissan Motor Co and others as China, the world's biggest car market, makes up a bigger portion of their global sales.
The dramatic fall-off in demand for Japanese vehicles has been an unexpected boon for other foreign brands, with South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co saying on Friday its China sales climbed 15 percent to 84,188 vehicles last month.
As demand evaporates, Toyota, Nissan, Honda Motor Co and others have been forced to cut back production in recent weeks in a slowing, but still promising Chinese market.
Japanese car makers have been the most visible losers, although there have been signs of the tensions affecting other sectors, with All Nippon Airways Co Ltd (ANA) saying late last month it had seen a wave of cancellations on Japan-China routes.
Semiconductor maker Rohm Co Ltd forecast a decline in orders for the second half of the fiscal year ending March, citing significant weakness from automakers.
"The second half is not looking very good, it all depends on how much impact the events in China will have," said Hidemi Takasu, managing director of R&D at Rohm, on the sidelines of the CEATEC technology trade show near Tokyo.
The exodus from Japanese cars has in turn helped other foreign brands. Among premium brands, Volkswagen's Audi boosted sales by 20 percent in September, BMW by 55 percent and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz by 10 percent.
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Toyota China sales tumble as islands row hits Japan Inc | Reuters