April New Auto Sales in Japan Down 10.2 Percent, 22nd Straight Month of Decline

May 2, 2007
By Ken Worsley

It’s that time of the month again: The Japan Automobile Dealers Association has announced its report on April 2007 new automobile sales in Japan, and the results demonstrate the continuing of a strong downward trend.

You might remember those opening words from last month; this report is getting frighteningly predictable to write about each month.

In April, 217,911 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in Japan. This figure is down 10.2% from the 242,596 units that were moved in April of 2006 and represents the 22nd straight month of a year-on-year decline in sales for the auto industry. When separated by brand, we see that Mazda’s sales tumbled 13% in April, Toyota’s declined 12%, and Nissan was down 11%.

Honda was the only domestic automaker posting a gain in sales, moving 29,759 vehicles for 3.8% increase over April 2006.

In recent months, brisk sales of minicars have been blamed for the fall in sales of full-size and compact cars. Those critics can start eating their words: Sales of minicars in April were at 139,779 units, down 6.4% and showing their first decline in 16 months.

The breakdown for monthly sales stats: