June offers first glimmer of hope in bleak Japanese car sales year

摘要

June's 21.9% dive in Japanese domestic car sales marked a significant slowdown in the rate of decline and offered hope for Japan's embattled car dealers that the quake-triggered downturn in their industry may be nearly over. Japan's car market sank to its knees. Reeling from the double blow of a hangover from last year's 'eco-car' scrappage incentives and the near knock-out punch from the devastating March earthquake, Japan's carmakers were expected to have a nightmarish year. But as it turns out, the hard-struck market sank to new depths and genuine recovery from today's low is expected to turn into an arduous uphill struggle.