Anti-Japan Protests Hurt Nissan Sales in China

Nissan Motor Co.'s sales in China are being dented by anti-Japanese sentiment stirred up by an intensifying dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over control of a group of islands in the East China Sea, COO Toshiyuki Shiga tells reporters.

The political crisis flared up last month when the Japanese Coast Guard detained Chinese activists who landed on the uninhabited islands (known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese).

Across China, citizens took to the streets in outrage, and several Japanese cars were overturned or smashed. Some protesters are calling for a boycott of Japanese goods.

Mazda Motor Corp. reports that its showroom traffic declined slightly after the demonstrations. Shiga adds that Nissan has canceled some promotional campaigns on the advice of Chinese authorities.

Nissan sales in the country fell 3% to 95,200 vehicles last month. Demand also fell for other major Japanese brands there in August, according to Shiga. He says it is difficult to quantify the impact of anti-Japan sentiment since the Chinese car market was already sluggish.