Toyota leads car sales in Japan from January to September 2013 with the Aqua now Japan’s favorite car model ahead of the Prius.
The first nine months of 2013 saw the Japanese new car market decline by 5%. The best-selling marques Toyota and Honda suffered a sales decline of around 10% but car sales of most other brands were flat or stronger with import brands showing strong growth in Japan over the first three quarters of 2013. The Toyota Aqua has now established itself as Japan’s favorite car ahead of the Toyota Prius.
The Japanese New Car Market in 2013 (Q3)
The Japanese car market shrunk by 4.8% between January and September 2013 compared to the same period a year ago. During the first nine months of 2013, new vehicle registrations in Japan totaled 4,073,367 including cars, trucks, and buses.
Mid-2103, the Japanese car market was 8% down on the first six months of 2012 but a very strong (+17%) September 2013 contributed to the smaller than expected decline over the first three quarters of the year.
Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Japan in 2013 (Q3)
The best-selling vehicle brands in Japan during the first nine months of 2013 according to sales figures released by JATO were:
| January to September | |||||
| 2013 | % Change | 2012 | 2011 | ||
| Total | 4,073,267 | -4.8 | 4,277,944 | 3,084,336 | |
| 1 | Toyota | 1,174,213 | -10.4 | 1,310,007 | 813,808 |
| 2 | Honda | 547,808 | -9.7 | 606,366 | 374,485 |
| 3 | Suzuki | 534,479 | -0.3 | 535,843 | 412,633 |
| 4 | Nissan | 528,034 | -0.3 | 529,805 | 444,548 |
| 5 | Daihatsu | 505,476 | -7 | 543,728 | 395,455 |
| 6 | Mazda | 177,055 | -0.7 | 178,214 | 147,684 |
| 7 | Subaru | 143,073 | 3.9 | 137,646 | 116,807 |
| 8 | Mitsubishi | 108,250 | -2.9 | 111,450 | 115,857 |
| 9 | VW | 48,384 | 15.3 | 41,971 | 37,290 |
| 10 | Isuzu | 47,350 | 2.4 | 46,223 | 30,680 |
| 11 | Mercedes-Benz | 39,179 | 27.9 | 30,641 | 24,645 |
| 12 | Lexus | 35,053 | 1.9 | 34,400 | 32,020 |
| 13 | Hino | 34,737 | 8.4 | 32,041 | 24,930 |
| 14 | BMW | 33,059 | 12 | 29,524 | 24,005 |
| 15 | Mitsubishi Fuso | 26,533 | -0.1 | 26,569 | 18,358 |
| 16 | Audi | 21,361 | 16.4 | 18,356 | 16,214 |
| 17 | Volvo | 12,728 | 23.4 | 10,315 | 8,172 |
| 18 | BMW MINI | 12,393 | 2.2 | 12,124 | 10,576 |
Source: JATO
Best-Selling Car Brands in Japan in 2013 (Q3)
Market leaders Toyota and Honda maintained their relative sales positions from a year ago despite both loosing around 10% in sales in Japan between January and September 2013. Last year’s number three, Daihatsu, also lost significant sales and slipped to fifth place this year.
Other brands had mostly flat or stronger sales. Import brands gained particularly with Mercedes-Benz (+28%) showing the strongest increase in sales to move ahead of Lexus and Hino. Volvo sales were also much improved.
Top-Selling Car Models in Japan in 2013 (Q3)
Japan’s favorite car models during the first nine months of 2013 according to car sales statistics released by JATO were:
| Manufacturer | Model | Jan-Jun | July | August | September | Jan-Sep | |
| 1 | Toyota | Aqua | 132,336 | 28,657 | 21,142 | 26,543 | 208,678 |
| 2 | Toyota | Prius | 132,472 | 23,067 | 16,759 | 23,069 | 195,367 |
| 3 | Nissan | Note | 82,466 | 11,712 | 8,783 | 15,660 | 118,621 |
| 4 | Honda | Fit | 72,191 | 11,553 | 6,193 | 19,388 | 109,325 |
| 5 | Nissan | Serena | 49,241 | 9,005 | 6,610 | 10,865 | 75,721 |
| 6 | Toyota | Vitz | 45,996 | 9,181 | 5,324 | 6,869 | 67,370 |
| 7 | Toyota | Crown | 48,458 | 6,724 | 5,119 | 6,389 | 66,690 |
| 8 | Toyota | Corolla | 40,244 | 7,331 | 6,865 | 10,784 | 65,224 |
| 9 | Honda | Freed | 37,974 | 2,740 | 5,782 | 7,909 | 54,405 |
| 10 | Honda | Step WGN | 32,656 | 6,715 | 4,384 | 8,237 | 51,992 |
Source: JATO
The Toyota Aqua is now Japan’s favorite car ahead of the Toyota Prius, which led the tables a year ago. The gap between the two models are about the same as it was when the Aqua led the Prius during the first quarter of 2013 but the Prius was again ahead mid-year.
The Honda Fit slipped one place but the new third-generation model was launched in September and sold strongly with potential for a good finish to the year. The Note improved from 8th a year ago.
The Serena and Vitz swopped places while the Toyota Crown is a new entrant ahead of the evergreen Corolla. The Freed slipped from fourth a year ago while the Stepwagon is down one place. The Mazda Demio slipped out of the top-ten list of Japan’s favorite car models.
