Sales in Japan take tumble

There was a stark contrast between two months of new vehicle sales in Japan with over-1,000cc deliveries plummeting by 52.54 per cent from March’s high of 418,025 units to 198,371 in April. Sales of small, medium and large car sales fell by 52.23 per cent to 170,240 units from 356,412 in the previous month. Light to heavy trucks fell to 27,193 sales, while bus registrations fell back to 938. “The comparative collapse within one month can be partially attributed to the buying frenzy that occurred in March with the end of the Japanese fiscal year and taxation advantages creating dealer incentives to move stock before the 31^st deadline,” notes the IMIVA. “It’s also worth making a comparison to the market activity when the imposition of increased consumption tax on April 1, 2014, led to massive buying in the months leading up to it. The month-on-month slump is similar to the activity in 2013. April 2015’s sales are actually better on a 12-month comparison basis than the previous year.” April’s market leader was the Toyota Aqua on 15,555 units. It sold nearly twice the volume of the nearest competitor. Displacing the number-two spot normally held by the Prius, the redesigned Alphard / Vellfire had a strong month with 8,972 deliveries – well down on the 14,006 that found owners in March, but ahead of the national trend with a drop of 35.94 per cent. The Prius had to settle for third place with sales of 8,769 – some 52.86 per cent down compared to March when 18,605 were delivered. Honda’s Fit dropped to fourth on 8,372 – 50.88 per cent down on March’s sales and the poorest volume this model has seen since March 2014. The recently released Toyota Esquire was one of a few models in the top 50 to increase month-on-month sales. It registered 7,503 units to record its best-ever single month since its introduction in November 2014. In sixth place, the Corolla remained relatively stable with 7,331 units sold and well-clear of the Voxy on 6,140. Nissan’s Note had a terrible April. It dropped from fifth to eighth on the back of a 59.2 per cent drop in sales to 5,710. The Vitz dropped to ninth on 5,618 units, but ahead of Mazda’s Demio, which managed only 4,457 deliveries to drop to 10^th – the poorest showing yet for this new model. Toyota took all but three spots in April’s top 10. What is also significant is the continued rise of the Toyota multi-seater family van. If totals for the near-identical Esquire, Voxy and Noah were combined, this model in April sold 16,358 units to move ahead of the Aqua as Japan’s most popular vehicle. Sales of new electric vehicles and PHEVs also performed poorly. Nissan’s Leaf fell to its lowest sales since full production to 282, while Mitsubishi’s Outlander – both the PHEV and the standard petrol version – had 231 registrations. Toyota’s Mirai fuel-cell vehicle secured increased market share, up from 47 units in March to 55 in April. oyota’s Esquire performed well in April’s new vehicle saleschart in Japan.Toyota’s Esquire performed well in April’s new vehicle saleschart in Japan.