Japan 2008: Honda Fit crowned

Honda Fit

After starting with a bang in November 07, the Honda Fit generation 2 continues to dominate the Japanese sales ranking, on top 10 months out of 12, peaking at 25,933 sales in March and finishing the year at 174,910 sales, up 50%. It is the second year after 2002 that the Honda Fit is the best selling car in Japan.

The Toyota Corolla drops to 2nd at a still respectable 144,051 units, down only 2% year-on-year. It was #1 in October and November 08, the very last two months on top for the Corolla nameplate after 40 years of domination. The Toyota Vitz is up 2% in 3rd place with 123,337 sales.

Toyota Crown

Relaunched this year, the Toyota Crown gets a boost and jumps 10 spots to the 4th position with 74,904 sales (+33%). In 5th, the 5-year-old Toyota Prius continues its age-defying prowess and gains 6 spots and 25% year-on-year to reach 73,110 sales. The Nissan Serena and Toyota Passo resist in 6th and 7th place.

Toyota Prius

Two all-new models break into the Top 30 this year. The Honda Freed, launched in May, is #16 at 50,646 sales and ranked #4 from July to November. The Toyota Vellfire, a sporty version of the Toyota Alphard, is #23 at 38,969 sales and peaked at #6 in November. Notice the Toyota iQ, launched in October, ranking #21 in December.

Full Top 30 Ranking Table: click on ‘Read more’ below the Honda Freed pic.

Honda Freed

Japan Full Year 2008:

Pos	Model	2008	08/07	2007	Pos
1	Honda Fit	174,910	50%	116,561	3
2	Toyota Corolla	144,051	-2%	147,069	1
3	Toyota Vitz	123,337	2%	121,377	2
4	Toyota Crown	74,904	33%	56,455	14
5	Toyota Prius	73,110	25%	58,315	11
6	Nissan Serena	72,927	-6%	77,544	5
7	Toyota Passo	72,767	-9%	80,015	4
8	Toyota Voxy	70,165	-4%	73,457	7
9	Nissan Tiida	65,302	5%	62,239	9
10	Mazda Demio	64,990	-1%	65,507	8
11	Nissan Note	62,704	13%	55,659	16
12	Suzuki Swift	58,950	11%	52,937	17
13	Toyota Estima	58,463	-21%	74,234	6
14	Toyota Noah	57,477	-6%	61,064	10
15	Toyota Ractis	51,694	-2%	52,885	18
16	Honda Freed	50,646	new	0	–
17	Nissan Cube	47,295	-9%	51,846	20
18	Nissan March	46,686	2%	45,693	22
19	Toyota Alphard	45,119	-14%	52,236	19
20	Honda StepWGN	44,441	-20%	55,800	15
21	Honda Stream	41,399	-28%	57,351	12
22	Toyota Wish	39,292	-31%	56,787	13
23	Toyota Vellfire	38,969	new	0	–
24	Toyota Mark X	38,748	-18%	47,192	21
25	Toyota Sienta	34,809	-1%	35,033	28
26	Toyota Porte	32,961	-10%	36,777	26
27	Toyota bB	32,413	-16%	38,396	23
28	Toyota Premio	32,044	-16%	38,196	25
29	Nissan X-Trail	31,710	14%	27,865	36
30	Honda Odyssey	28,982	-9%	31,778	32

Source: JADA