The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to major Japanese carmakers — a pillar of industry in the nation. But having bottomed out in April through June, they are bouncing back with rosier-than-expected figures, signaling that they are on the path to recovery.
With demand rebounding in crucial markets such as China and the United States, auto giants have revised up their full-year profit forecasts or trimmed losses as they reported business results for the first half of this business year, over the past week or so, while stressing that they would stay vigilant about the health crisis now re-emerging in a number of nations.
“The risk of widespread COVID-19 infection remains, but I think we can say that the first quarter (April to June) was the rock bottom,” said Seiji Sugiura, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.