2014 (Q1) Japan: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Models

Car sales in Japan increased by 20% during the first quarter of 2014. Toyota is still the leading brand while the Aqua narrowly outsold the Honda Fit.

Subaru Viziv 2 Concept at Geneva Auto Salon 2014

The first quarter of 2014 saw new vehicle registrations in Japan increase by a fifth ahead of a sales tax increase in April. All manufacturers achieved higher sales at the start of 2014 in Japan with expensive foreign brands doing particularly well – Mercedes-Benz sales increased by 50% with Porsche and BMW sales in Japan up by more than 40%. Toyota remains Japan’s leading motor vehicle manufacturer despite underperforming the market while Honda solidified its second place with a 40% increase in sales. The Toyota Aqua narrowly outsold the Honda Fit to remain Japan’s favorite car model ahead of the Prius.

The Japanese Vehicle Market in 2014 (Q1)

New vehicle registrations in Japan increased during the first three months of 2014 by 20.7% to 1,844,662 vehicles – these figures include passenger cars, buses, and trucks. All top 25 manufacturers recorded sales growth in Japan during the first quarter of 2014 with only two failing to achieve double-digit percentage growth.

Strong growth in the Japanese car market at the start of 2014 was widely expected, as sales tax in Japan is increasing on April 1, 2014, from 5% to 8%. A sharp cut back in car sales is expected in the second quarter of the year.

Japanese consumers are traditionally very sensitive to increases in consumption tax – the last tax hike in 1997 led to a deep recession. The tax rate is due to increase further to 10% in October 2015.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Japan in 2014 (Q1)

New vehicle registrations during the first three months of 2014 in Japan according to sales statistics released by JADA were as follows:

Manufacturer  Q1 / 2014  Q1 / 2013 % Change
  Total  1’844’662  1’528’008 20.7
1 Toyota  501’798  440’450 13.9
2 Honda  299’180  214’149 39.7
3 Nissan  253’341  213’123 18.9
4 Daihatsu  222’630  183’949 21
5 Suzuki  220’142  193’531 13.8
6 Mazda  81’882  66’512 23.1
7 Subaru  59’910  53’885 11.2
8 Mitsubishi  45’998  41’780 10.1
9 VW  23’023  18’148 26.9
10 Isuzu  21’936  16’819 30.4
11 Mercedes-Benz  17’834  11’791 51.3
12 Hino  17’668  13’663 29.3
13 Lexus  14’854  12’191 21.8
14 BMW  14’230  10’011 42.2
15 Mitsubishi Fuso  13’199  8’504 55.2
16 Audi  8’987  7’441 20.8
17 Volvo  4’367  3’293 32.6
18 BMW MINI  4’218  4’037 4.5
19 UD Trucks  3’315  2’158 5.2
20 Fiat  2’540  1’190 13.4
21 Jeep  1’868  1’201 55.5
22 Peugeot  1’744  1’562 11.7
23 Ford  1’506  1’125 33.9
24 Renault  1’482  969 52.9
25 Porsche  1’431  999 43.2

Top-Selling Car Brands in Japan in 2014 (Q1)

Toyota easily maintained its position as Japan’s leading vehicle manufacturer at the start of 2014 despite underperforming the broader market. In contrast, Honda achieved an increase in sales of nearly 40% to strengthen its hold on second place.

Nissan slightly underperformed but maintained its third place – a year ago, Nissan was only around a thousand vehicles behind Honda but the gap has now grown to almost 46,000 cars.

During the first quarter of 2014, Daihatsu’s sales increased inline with the market but allowed Toyota’s sister company to overtake the underperforming Suzuki.

There were no other position changes amongst the top-ten best-selling brands in Japan in 2014 (Q1) although Subaru and Mitsubishi both underperformed the market by around 10%.

Mercedes-Benz sales in Japan grew by 51% during the first three months of 2014 to overtake truck maker Hino and, more significantly, Lexus. BMW and Porsche also achieved strong growth while Audi sales increased inline with the broader market. However, total foreign car sales in Japan remain very low.

Top-10 Best-Selling Car Models in Japan in 2014 (Q1)

The ten most popular car models in Japan during the first quarter of 2014 according to car sales statistics released by JADA were:

Brand Model  January  February  March  Q1 / 2014
1 Toyota Aqua  22’885  23’973  31’146  78’004
2 Honda Fit  26’869  18’303  31’921  77’093
3 Toyota Prius  20’162  23’501  28’274  71’937
4 Nissan Note  10’334  12’237  17’319  39’890
5 Toyota Corolla  10’868  11’335  15’654  37’857
6 Nissan Serena  9’910  10’496  10’966  31’372
7 Toyota Vitz  6’732  8’386  11’890  27’008
8 Nissan X-TRAIL  6’616  7’554  9’093  23’263
9 Subaru Impreza  5’262  5’360  9’632  20’254
10 Honda Vezel  6’235  4’257  8’649  19’141

Note these figures exclude Kei minicars.

The Toyota Aqua managed to remain Japan’s favorite car during the first three months of 2014. However, the new Honda Fit has been selling very well and was less than a thousand cars behind the Aqua largely due to shortages in February.

The larger Toyota Prius remains very popular in Japan with the top-three best-selling car models noticeable ahead of the rest. The Nissan Note, evergreen Toyota Corolla, Nissan Serena and Toyota Vitz are regulars on the top-ten best-sellers list in Japan.

The Nissan X-Trail and Subaru Impreza are more commonly in the 10 to 20 grouping. The Honda Vezel – a crossover – is the only truly newcomer having been launched as a completely new car in December 2013.

Sales of European Luxury and Sports Cars in Japan in 2014 (Q1)

The Japanese have long been fond of fast European luxury and sports cars despite the strictly enforced speed limits and endless traffic jams. The impending tax increase in April probably helped sales in the top bracket too.

Mercedes, BMW and Porsche all saw very strong sales increases in Japan during the first quarter of 2014. However, more exclusive sports and luxury cars did very well too.

Manufacturer  Q1 / 2014  Q1 / 2013 % Change
Ferrari
 207  144 43.8
Maserati  317  94 237.2
Bentley  93  43 116.3
Lamborghini  55  52 5.8
Rolls Royce  45  26 73.1
McLaren  30  20 50

VW failed to sell any Bugatti Veyrons in Japan thus far in 2014, although none of the three sold in 2013 was in the first quarter last year either. However, Volkswagen managed to more than double sales of Bentleys in Japan during the first quarter of 2014 while Lamborghini sales increased by three cars.

Maserati more than doubled its sales in Japan while lovers of Ferraris also got their orders in early. Rolls Royce sales also improved drastically while McLaren sold 50% more cars in Japan at the start of 2014 compared to a year ago.

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