JAPANESE car companies like Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are increasing sales in the Chinese market that has fallen almost every month since June 2018. They’re doing it by targeting what’s proven to be a sweet spot in the faltering market — demand for hybrid gasoline-electric cars.

Japanese automakers are leaders in the technology, which appeals to Chinese consumers keen to heed the government push toward new energy vehicles, but aren’t ready to shift to pure-electric autos just yet.

“The hybrid I drive now is as reliable as the one I used before but more fuel-efficient,” said Charles Wang, who bought a hybrid Toyota Camry in 2019 after driving a gasoline-powered Honda Accord for six years.

Toyota, maker of the pioneer hybrid model Prius, and peers Honda and Nissan Motor Co. have been early adopters of the technology that combines an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. That’s allowed them to keep sales humming even as demand for gasoline cars wanes and pure-electric vehicles are yet to catch on.

Japanese brands boosted sales 4.3 percent in the first first 10 months of the year, outpacing U.S., European, South Korean and Chinese rivals, according to China Passenger Car Association.

Japan is now close to overtaking Germany as the biggest foreign car power in China, though Germany is benefiting from resilient demand for its premium models.

Sales of Japanese brands’ hybrids have risen about 30 percent this year in China to more than 220,000, making the vehicles one of the fastest-growing market segment, according to the association. Japanese carmakers control about 99 percent of the traditional hybrid market in China, according to numbers from consultancy WAYS Information Technology Co. that exclude plug-in vehicles.(SD-Agencies)