Archive
Japan: 1969-2009 Historical Data now available
2009 Toyota Prius
Japan Historical Data up to 1969 is now available on this site! Over this 40 years period, only 3 models managed to hold the yearly Japanese pole position. The Toyota Corolla – 10 generations of the model – dominated for 37 years: from 1969 to 2001 and from 2003 to 2007. The Honda Fit was on top in 2002 and 2008, and the Toyota Prius shot to stardom in 2009 and 2010.
From 2001 onwards, detailed info is available, including yearly Top 30 Rankings, Kei cars rankings from 2006. Witness the explosive arrival of the Honda Fit, #1 for the first time in November 2001, the 7 months the Toyota Vitz dominated sales in 2005-2006, and discover the success of little known models like the Toyota Wish, #1 in April 2004, and the Toyota Ractis, #1 in October 2005.
Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 16 new posts.
Japan Kei cars March 2011: Suzuki Wagon R reclaims pole position
Suzuki WagonR
After two months under the leadership of the Daihatsu Move, the Suzuki Wagon R reclaims its title of best selling Kei car for the first time this year with 17,290 sales. It is however still #2 year-to-date at 42,764 units vs. 47,215 for the Move.
The next three models are unchanged from February: the Daihatsu Tanto is #3 at 13,528, followed by the Suzuki Alto (8,652) and the Honda Life (8,332). The Daihatsu Mira is up one spot at #6 and the Mitsubishi eK is up 3 spots at #8, whereas the new Suzuki MR Wagon drops 2 places at #12.
Full Top 20 Ranking Table below.
Japan March 2011: Quake induces 37% drop, Honda Fit #1
Honda Fit Hybrid
The effect on car sales of the quake and tsunami that devastated the country is now tangible: the Japanese car market dropped 37% in March at 279,389 units. This is the highest year-on-year fall for Nippon car sales since the -55% of May 1974 during the oil-supply crunch. While some dealerships are damaged in the northeast of the country, a lot of dealers in some central areas cannot run showrooms properly because of continued power blackouts.
In this context, auto industry analysts expect sales to fall a further 50% or more in April…
Now to the models ranking. Boosted by the new hybrid version, the Honda Fit takes the top spot for the 2nd time in the last 3 months with 22,284 units and only -3%. It even takes the lead in the 2011 year-to-date ranking at 54,033 registrations! The Toyota Prius is a distant #2 in March at 19,702 sales (-45%) and YTD at 52,523 units.
The next three models stay unchanged and fall slower than the market: the Toyota Vitz at -13%, Nissan Serena at -10% and Honda Freed at -17%. Only two cars in the Top 30 actually see their sales improve: the Nissan March is up 5 spots at #7 (+5%) and the Nissan Elgrand is #30 at +47%.
The Lexus CT200h, launched last December, appears in the Top 30 for the first time at #26 with 2,460 sales.
Full Top 30 Ranking Table below.
Japan Kei cars February 2011: Daihatsu Move stays #1
Daihatsu Move Custom
* Visit this site and pick “Japan: earthquake and tsunami” to help the victims of the disaster *
In February the Daihatsu Move is the best selling Kei car in Japan for the 2nd month in a row with 16,230 sales, keeping at bay the Suzuki Wagon R, the best seller for the last 8 years, still #2 this month at 14,355 units.
The Daihatsu Tanto rounds off the podium at 13,765 sales. The Suzuki Alto and Honda Life are stable in 4th and 5th positions, so is the new Suzuki MR Wagon at #10 at 3,282 sales.
Full Top 20 Ranking Table below.
Japan February 2011: Prius back to #1, Nissan Leaf in Top 30
Nissan Leaf
*Best Selling Cars offers its condoleances to the victims of the Sendai earthquake & tsunami*
It’s a good month for ‘green’ cars in Japan: the Toyota Prius climbs back to the top of the ranking with 19,110 sales, and the all-electric Nissan Leaf makes its entry in the Top 30 at #25 with 2,593 sales, up from 981 in January.
Leader last month, the Honda Fit is now #2 with a still very strong 16,876 sales (+21% year-on-year), just ahead of the new gen Toyota Vitz (aka Yaris), up 50% at 16,484 units sold. The Nissan Serena is very solid this month at #4 (+16%) and the new gen Toyota Ractis continues to do well at #6 (+45%). Other newbies the Suzuki Solio is 15th and the Nissan Juke is 20th.
Full Top 30 Ranking Table below.
Japan Kei cars January 2011: new Suzuki MR Wagon in Top 10
Suzuki MR Wagon
A bit of shake up in the Kei cars ranking this month: the Daihatsu Move, #3 in 2010, climbs to first place in January with 14,207 sales, well ahead of the two stars of last year, the Suzuki Wagon R at 11,119 units and the Daihatsu Tanto at 10,690.
There is a new entrant in the Top 10: the new generation Suzuki MR Wagon gains 12 spots to reach 3,231 sales and rank 10th. It was 19th in 2010 with 11,938 registrations.
Full January Top 20 Ranking Table below.
Japan January 2011: Prius dethroned, Fit & Vitz up
Honda Fit Hybrid
The Japanese market is down 21% in January at 187,154 registrations. For the first time in 20 months the Toyota Prius is not #1 in Japan, dethroned by the Honda Fit (aka Jazz), #1 with 14,873 sales possibly thanks to the new Hybrid version. The new gen Toyota Vitz (aka Yaris) is up 26% at #3 with 11,018 sales.
The Toyota Ractis is solid again at #4 with 6,806 units sold (+93%), and a new entrant breaks into the Top 10: the Suzuki Solio, #9 with 3,953 sales. The Nissan Juke drops 5 spots to #17 with 2,691 sales.
More pictures and full Top 30 Ranking Table: click on ‘Read more’ below.
Toyota Vitz
Japan 2010 Imports: Golf, Polo and Mini shine
Imported cars are traditionally very discreet in Japan, only accounting for 5.8% of all passenger car sales at 187,436 units. Volkswagen is the only imported brand to feature in the general Top 10 (9th with 46,707 sales), and it places 2 models on top of the imports ranking: the Golf in #1 at 26,075 sales (0.8%) and the Polo in #2 at 14,507 (0.45%).
The BMW 3 Series is 3rd with 11,664 sales, the first of no less than 5 BMW’s in the Top 15, including the Mini at #4 (11,338), the 5 Series at #7 and the X1 at #12. The Mercedes E Class is 5th. Top 15 in pictures and in detail: click on ‘Read more’ below.
Japan Kei cars 2010: Suzuki Wagon R #1 for 8th year in a row
The Suzuki Wagon R finishes the year as the best selling Kei car in Japan for the 8th consecutive time with 195,108 registrations (-3%), thanks to a very strong month of December at 14,928 sales. The Daihatsu Tanto, leader of the market up to November, ends up #2 at 191,391 sales (+32%).
The Daihatsu Move drops one spot to #3 (-28%). There is one new entrant in the Top 10 this year: the Nissan Roox in 9th at 51,391 sales (+590%). Full Year 2010 Kei cars Top 20 and commercial Kei cars Top 10 below.
Japan December 2010: new Toyota Ractis #3, Prius breaks record
Japanese car sales increased 11% in 2010 at 3,229,716 registrations, in spite of a very weak 2nd half. The Toyota Prius is the best selling car in Japan for the second year in a row, up 51% to reach 315,669 sales. Never before had a single car sold so many units in a year in Japan, the previous record being held by the Toyota Corolla in 1990 with 300,008 units.
The rest of the Top 5 all improved their sales too: the Honda Fit (Jazz) is up 18% at #2, the Toyota Vitz (Yaris) is up 4% at #3, the Corolla up 23% at #4 and the Honda Freed gains 2 spots and 20% in 5th. The Honda StepWGN registers the highest increase in the Top 20 at +88% and +13 spots in 7th with 80,934 sales.
In December, the new generation Toyota Ractis (Verso S) is off to a great start, climbing from 23rd last month directly to 3rd with 6,670 sales. The Nissan Juke is stable at #12 with 3,034 sales. There are 3 Subarus in the Top 30: the Liberty (#25), Forester (#27) and Impreza (#28). For the December and Full Year 2010 Top 30: click on ‘Read more’ below.
Best Selling Cars - Matt's blog 
