Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. report record sales in China

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. seem to have recovered from the anti-Japanese boycotts, which resulted in sales decrease in 2012, because they managed to draw a record number of buyers to their brands on the Chinese market in 2013.

Toyota Motor Corp. is considered the largest automaker by volume in the world. Today the company announced that its 2013 sales increased by 9.2% compared to the sales in 2012, thanks to the fact its two joint ventures sold a combined 917,500 vehicles.

Over the last year, Ford Motor Co. left Toyota behind in the competition over the leading positions on the Chinese market. Toyota also lagged behind Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. Still, Toyota is considered the most prominent Japanese car brand, which is fighting over the disputed Senkaku islands – a Japanese-administered group in the East China Sea.

Honda, on the other hand, had even greater success with its sales on the Chinese market, compared to Toyota. Its sales increased by 26% and reached 756,882 units in 2013. The latest version of its Accord sedan released in China also contributed to the overall late-year sales of the company. Today Honda announced that its December 2013 sales rose by 60% compared to the ones a year earlier.

According to Bloomberg, the current share price of Toyota Motor Corp. is 1.87% down, and its one-year return rate is 51.19% up. The Financial Times also published a forecast saying that the 21 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Toyota Motor Corp. have a median target of 8,000, with a high estimate of 10,00 and a low estimate of 6,200. The median estimate represents a 24.61% increase from the last price of 6,420.

The current share price of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is 1.27% down, and its one-year return rate is 33.47% up. According to a forecast published by the Financial Times, the 18 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Honda Motor Co. Ltd. have a median target of 4,700, with a high estimate of 5,700 and a low estimate of 3,795. The median estimate represents a 8.55% increase from the last price of 4,330.