Kathmandu. Last month, Honda’s chief executive, Mibe Toshihiro, said the company was making losses for the first time since 1957. He took responsibility for the failure and announced a 30 percent pay cut for himself and his assistant. However, Honda is not the only Japanese car company to face serious difficulties.
Last week, Mibe warned that Japan’s automobile industry was facing an existential crisis. A 25 percent tariff on cars imported from the U.S. has reduced the industry’s profits. Chinese adversaries have had the most impact.
Nissan, the world’s sixth-largest company by sales, is experiencing production cuts for the second year in a row. There are plans to close 7 factories by 2028.
In 2019, Japanese car companies accounted for 31% of global car sales. It fell to 26 percent last year.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia’s market share fell from 68 percent in 2023 to 57 percent in 2025.
Last year, 26 percent of the global car market was electric. That includes hybrids. This is an increase of 3 percent compared to 2019. Sales are higher in Japan. Last year, a third of cars sold in Asia were electric. –Agency
