TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor’s (NYSE:) global sales and production fell in April from a year earlier, hurt by an intense price war in China and a slowdown in Japan following production halts on some models and a safety testing scandal in its small car division.
Global sales fell 0.5% in April as a 27% decline in China, the world’s largest auto market, and a 14% fall in Japan offset double-digit growth in the United States and Europe. Toyota said its sales in China fell despite it holding promotional events at stores across the country.
Automakers are locked in a bitter price war in China’s huge but crowded auto market. Japanese automakers are facing enormous pressure to shift to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids sold by Chinese brands.
Toyota’s sales in Japan were hit by a temporary halt in production of the Prius model at the Tsutsumi plant for quality checks and a partial halt in production at the Toyota Auto Body plant, which makes the Noah and Voxy minivans. The company also faces fallout from a scandal with small car maker Daihatsu.
The world’s largest automaker by volume reported a 4.0% drop in global production as lower output in markets such as China, Japan, Thailand and Mexico outweighed output gains in the United States and India.
Toyota was forced to repeatedly shut down production at the Tijuana, Mexico, plant where it makes Tacoma pickups in February and March, Reuters reported this month.
Nearly 40% of vehicles sold by Toyota in April were gasoline-electric hybrids. Only 2% were electric vehicles.
Global sales and production figures include Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus. Separate data for Daihatsu showed its global sales fell 54% in April.