Japanese automakers' China car sales tumble in September

[October 11, 2021]  BEIJING (Reuters) - Japanese automakers Honda Motor Co Ltd, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Toyota Motor Corp saw their sales in China tumble in September as a chip shortage hit vehicle production in the world's biggest car market.

Honda said it sold 121,448 vehicles in China last month, down 28% from a year earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of components.

Nissan said it sold 104,443 cars, down 26%, due to "external headwind including the ongoing pandemic, cross-industry material shortages, slowdowns, and increased competition."

Toyota said it sold 115,000 cars, down 36%.

Separately, U.S. automaker General Motors Co, which only reports quarterly China sales, said it sold over 623,000 in July through September, down 19% from the same period last year, "impacted by the ongoing global semiconductor supply chain disruption."

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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