首页
登录
职称英语
(1)Kimiyuki Suda should be a perfect customer for Japan’s carmakers. He’s a
(1)Kimiyuki Suda should be a perfect customer for Japan’s carmakers. He’s a
游客
2023-11-27
25
管理
问题
(1)Kimiyuki Suda should be a perfect customer for Japan’s carmakers. He’s a young(34), successful executive at an Internet-services company in Tokyo and has plenty of disposable income. He used to own Toyota’s Hilux Surf, a sport utility vehicle. But now he uses mostly subways and trains. "It’s not inconvenient at all," he says. Besides, "having a car is so 20th century."
(2)Suda reflects a worrisome trend in Japan; the automobile is losing its emotional appeal, particularly among the young, who prefer to spend their money on the latest electronic gadgets. While minicars and luxury foreign brands are still popular, everything in between is slipping. Last year sales fell 6.7 percent—if you don’t count me minicar market. There have been larger one-year drops in other nations: sales in Germany fell 9 percent in 2007 thanks to a tax hike. But analysts say Japan is unique in that sales have been eroding steadily over time. Since 1990, yearly new-car sales have fallen from 7.8 million to 5.4 million units in 2007.
(3)Alarmed by this state of decay, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association launched a comprehensive study of the market in 2006. It found a widening wealth gap, demographic changes—fewer households with children, a growing urban population—and general lack of interest in cars led Japanese to hold their vehicles longer, replace their cars with smaller ones or give up car ownership altogether. "Japan’s automobile society stands at a crossroad," says Ryuichi Kitamura, a transport expert and professor at Kyoto University. He says he does not expect the trend to be reversed, as studies show that the younger Japanese consumers are, the less interested they are in having a car. JAMA predicts a further sales decline of 1.2 percent in 2008. Some analysts believe that if the trend continues for much longer, further consolidation in the automotive sector(already under competitive pressure)is likely.
(4)Japanese demographics have something to do with the problem. The country’s urban population has grown by nearly 20 percent since 1990, and most city dwellers use mass transit(the country’s system is one of the best developed in the world)on a daily basis, making it less essential to own a car. Experts say Europe, where the car market is also quite mature, may be in for a similar shift.
(5)But in Japan, the "demotorization" process, or kuruma banare, is also driven by cost factors. Owning and driving a car can cost up to $500 per month in Japan, including parking fees, car insurance, toll roads and various taxes. Taxes on a $17,000 car in Japan are 4.1 times higher than in the United States, 1.7 times higher than in Germany and 1.25 times higher than in the U.K., according to JAMA. "Automobiles used to represent a symbol of our status, a Western, modern lifestyle that we aspired for," says Kitamura. For today’s young people, he argues, "such thinking is completely gone."
(6)Cars are increasingly just a mobile utility; the real consumer time and effort goes into picking the coolest mobile phones and personal computers, not the hippest hatchback. The rental-car industry has grown by more than 30 percent in the past eight years, as urbanites book weekend wheels over the Internet. Meanwhile, government surveys show that spending on cars per household per year fell by 14 percent, to $600, between 2000 and 2005, while spending on Net and mobile-phone subscriptions rose by 39 percent, to $1,500, during the same period.
(7)For Japanese car companies, the implications are enormous. "Japan is the world’s second largest market, with a 17 to 18 percent share of our global sales. It’s important," says Takao Katagiri, corporate vice president at Nissan Motor Co. The domestic market is where Japanese carmakers develop technology and build their know-how, and if it falters, it could gut an industry that employs 7.8 percent of the Japanese work force.
(8)While surging exports, particularly to emerging markets, have more than offset the decline in domestic sales so far, companies are looking for ways to turn the tide. Nissan, for example, is trying to appeal to the digital generation with promotional blogs and even a videogame. A racing game for Sony’s PlayStation, for example, offers players the chance to virtually drive the company’s latest sporty model, the GT-R—a new marketing approach to create buzz and tempt them into buying cars. Toyota Motors has opened an auto mall as part of a suburban shopping complex near Tokyo, hoping to attract the kinds of shoppers who have long since stopped thinking about dropping by a car dealership. It’s a bit akin to the Apple strategy of moving electronics out of the soulless superstore, and into more appealing and well-trafficked retail spaces. It worked for Apple, but then Apple is so 21st century. [br] What’s the main point of the last paragraph?
选项
答案
Japanese car companies tried best to promote car sales.
解析
最后一段首句即本段的主题句,指出日本汽车公司正寻求各种方法逆转其业绩下降的现象,随后以三家日本公司的营销策略为例对该主题观点进行说明,故本题答案可表述为Japanese car companies tried bestto promote car sales。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3224010.html
相关试题推荐
Untilwhatagedoyouthinkpeopleshouldbeencouragedtoremaininpaidemp
(1)Saintsshouldalwaysbejudgedguiltyuntiltheyareprovedinnocent,but
(1)Saintsshouldalwaysbejudgedguiltyuntiltheyareprovedinnocent,but
(1)Saintsshouldalwaysbejudgedguiltyuntiltheyareprovedinnocent,but
PASSAGETHREE[br]Whatistheconclusionofthewholepassage?Governmentshould
PASSAGETHREE[br]Whatistheconclusionofthewholepassage?Governmentshould
Shouldhighschoolseniorstakeagapyearbeforetheygotouniversities?Ga
(1)Saintsshouldalwaysbejudgedguiltyuntiltheyareprovedinnocent,but
(1)Saintsshouldalwaysbejudgedguiltyuntiltheyareprovedinnocent,but
(1)Saintsshouldalwaysbejudgedguiltyuntiltheyareprovedinnocent,but
随机试题
[originaltext]W:Mr.Ishiguro,haveyoueverfoundoneofyourbooksatasecon
农业社会化服务的模式有哪些。
交流电路在任一瞬间,电压瞬时值u与电流瞬时值i的乘积,称为瞬时功率()。
患者,男,50岁。咳嗽2个月,痰中带血,不发热,抗感染治疗效果不明显。3次X线检
追求时尚与款式,往往不问价格、质量的消费者属于( )消费者。A.理智型 B.
作为班长,晓月成功组织了很多班级活动。可是,晓月的妈妈担心班级事务影响晓月的学习
在行政法的渊源中,( )是指两个或者两个以上的国家签订的有关政治、经济、文化、
人民防空工程中的单建掘开式工程是单独建设的采用()施工,且大部分结构处于原地表
教师将一个上课迟到的学生拒之(教室)门外的做法侵犯了学生的( )A.受教育权
根据《招标投标法实施条例》,关于评标的说法中,正确的是()。A.行政监督部
最新回复
(
0
)