Japan Domestic New Car Sales: 20 Straight Months Down

March 1, 2007
By Ken Worsley

A quick review:

Japan’s December 2006 domestic new cars sales showed a decline for the 18th straight month…

January 2007 figures made it 19 straight months…

So…what to expect for February 2007? You guessed it: The Japan Automobile Dealers Association announced earlier today that new car sales had declined, year-on-year, by 8.7% - that makes 20 months in a row of declining domestic new auto sales. Clicking the chart to the right will bring up a full size version showing the past year’s sales in comparison to the same month in the previous year.

Results closely mirrored the statistics from the two previous months, with sales of cars, trucks and buses down, but the number of mini-cars sold on the rise. The breakdown:

Cars: Down 7.7% year-on-year to 281,829
Buses: Down 4.4% year-on-year to 1,462
Trucks: Down 15.6% to 39,155

In a separate report, Japan Mini Vehicle Association announced that domestic sales of mini-cars last month rose 0.6 pct from a year earlier to 182,670, showing an increase for the 14th straight month.

The Japan Mini Vehicle Association (yes, that’s their actual mascot, named Pittanko) has a lot to smile about these days, as domestic sales of Mini Vehicles continues to rise…