Sales of Toyota (NYSE: TM) cars and light trucks rose only 4% in China last year to 833,000
The largest Japanese car company faced two hurdles in the People’s Republic. The first is that an end to tax incentive in 2011 cause overall car sales in the country to slow. The second is that Toyota’s global production was hurt by the March earthquake.
No matter the cause GM (NYSE: GM) and VW and their joint venture partners in China have a commanding market share lead, and Toyota is small enough in the country that it will be hard to break those locks.
China passed the US as the largest car market two years ago. It yielded sales of nearly 16 million, and despite modest growth, industry leaders believe it is the key to larger profits among multinational manufacturers
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