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Finally! Japan’s domestic auto sales up 2.0% in October; First increase in 28 months

November 2, 2007
By Ken Worsley


Japan’s domestic automobile sales rose 2.0% against a year earlier in October, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. In October, 269,221 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in Japan.

After 28 months of successive decreases in sales, October’s news is certainly going to be welcomed by the auto industry. While October is not a traditionally high month for auto sales, they might indicate a long-awaited upturn in consumer spending, as well as a positive sign for October-December GDP rates.

Overall, 234,029 passenger cars were sold in October, an increase of 5.5% over last year. Truck sales were at 34,172, a 16.7% decrease from a year before. Bus sales stood at 1,020, a decrease of 2.0% from a year ago.

Back in June, Japan’s auto sales were at their lowest since 1975. Although October shows the possibility of a recovery, it would only seem natural that some form of recovery needs to have happened.

Broken down by brands, Mitsubishi comes out as the big winner, with a 17.2% increase. Toyota registered a 7.9% increase in sales, and Subaru’s sales increased 4.9%. On the other hand, Honda saw a 6.3% drop in sales, while Nissan moved 0.1% fewer autos than in October of last year.

We also learned from the Nikkei that Toyota’s domination of the domestic market is still gaining steam. In October, it seems as though Toyota has grabbed a greater than 50% market share for the first time ever. The secret? Toyota has launched a new model every month since May.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Finally! Japan’s domestic auto sales up 2.0% in October; First increase in 28 months”

  1. Kevin on November 6th, 2007 1:53 am

    Wrong, Japan auto sales for October FELL 1.0% in October as the auto market continues to decline. The release from JADA does not count Minivehicles — that data is released separately. But Minivehicles are 35% of the light vehicle market, and they were down 7%. And, last I checked at the Tokyo Motor Show, Minivehicles most definitely are automobiles — they’re not really even all that small.

    Might be somewhat useful to know that this one category of “full size passenger cars” grew for the first time in a while, but I’m thinking that’s due to a spate of new model releases and may not be terribly meaningful info.

  2. Ken Worsley on November 6th, 2007 2:15 am

    Good point - and I agree with you, as I’ve commented on that many times in the past - but mini vehicle sales are reported separately from auto sales by every news service, due to the fact that the sales figures are issued by separate agencies (JADA and JMVA). I’m wondering if a “Wrong” letter should be written to the Nikkei, Forbes or Bloomberg?

    Probably so, since the difference is, as you point out, quite slight. The key for the industry, though, is sticker price, and the people who write the JADA reports constantly complained (until a few months ago) that the then-booming minivehicle market was destroying ‘regular’ automotive sales - an absurd position, but the point is that they don’t see them as the same market, and nor do the manufacturers.

  3. Kevin on November 6th, 2007 10:23 am

    Sorry, that sounded a bit more blunt than I intended :) I follow those numbers monthly, so I’m familiar with how the reporting is done, and it always sort of annoys me how the news media so scrupulously treat kei cars as if they weren’t real automobiles or part of the automotive market. Just a pet peeve I guess…

    Have to say I find the decline in the Japanese auto market to be fascinating though. Do you have any opinion as to if it will continue to decline? I’m guessing it’s peaked out and sales will keep falling, and I’ve been noticing the news media picking up on this theme of young Japanese not wanting cars.

  4. Domestic auto sales climb 3.9% in November : Japan Economy News & Blog on December 4th, 2007 3:34 am

    […] from a year ago. Mitsubishi saw the largest gain in sales by percentage, posting a 17.5% increase. Mitsubishi led the pack last month as well, having posted a 17.2% increase in […]

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