Toyota, Nissan Lead Drop as Japan Sales Fall to 34-Year Low

Japan's fiscal first-half auto sales slumped to the lowest in 34 years as rising unemployment and decade-high inflation sapped demand for new vehicles.

Sales in the six months through September fell 2.9 percent to 1.54 million vehicles, the lowest since 1974, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement today. The total excludes minicars. Sales of cars, trucks and buses in September fell 5.3 percent to 310,992 from a year earlier.

Nissan Motor Co.'s sales dropped 5.3 percent in the six- month period as rising food and gasoline prices left consumers with less money for large purchases. The drop in domestic demand comes as Japan's largest manufacturers turned pessimistic about their prospects for the first time in five years as the deepening U.S. financial crisis stifled demand in the country's export markets.

“Current economic conditions are getting worse, which doesn't help car sales,'' said Yasuhiro Matsumoto, a credit analyst at Shinsei Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Carmakers are coming out with new minicars, the only models that seem to sell.'' More at Bloomberg