Japan car sales drop by 38% last month due to the coronavirus pandemic

On Monday, Japanese car manufacturers reported a 38% decline in their global sales last month. Most car factories and dealerships remained closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Japan’s biggest car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) just sold 609,460 vehicles last month. Nissan Motor Co’s (7201.T) sales fell by 37.3% or 272,873 units while Honda Motor Co’s (7267.T) sales were down by 29% to 327,000 units.

Most car manufacturers were getting ready for a big financial hit from the pandemic due to the lockdowns in the United States and Europe. Toyota said that it expects an 80% profit slump this year, its lowest in nine years.

A lot of countries have been easing their lockdown restrictions, but some experts from the automotive industry said that it would take up to five years for the global car demand to recover to 2019 levels.