2020 (Half Year) Japan: Best-Selling Car Brands, Models, and Kei Minicars

First semester 2020: Toyota was the leading car brand in Japan, the Toyota Raize the best-selling car model, and the Honda N-Box the favorite kei minicar.

The Japanese new car market contracted by 20% during the first half of 2020 with total vehicle sales down to 2.2 million vehicles. Toyota easily remained the largest carmaker in Japan and gained market share despite weaker sales. The new Toyota Raize was the top-selling car model in Japan thus far in 2020 with seven of the top-ten models made by Toyota. The Honda N-Box was again the top-selling kei minicar model in Japan during the first semester of 2020.

Latest Japan Car Sales Statistics: 2023 — Brands, Models, Minicars; Data for 2022 – 2009.

New Vehicle Market in Japan in 2020 (First Half)

Total new vehicle registrations in Japan during the first half of 2020 contracted by 19.8% to 2,207,775 vehicles — over half a million vehicles fewer than during the first six months of 2019. This number includes all standard passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and buses but excludes Kei minicars.

Best-Selling Vehicle Brands in Japan in 2020 (First Semester)

New vehicle registration data for Japan released by JADA for the period January to June 2020 showed the following as the top 20 brands:

	Brand	2020 HY	2019 HY	% Change 19/20
	Total	2,207,775	2,753,419	-19.8
1	Toyota	685,090	799,552	-14.3
2	Honda	313,213	403,364	-22.3
3	Suzuki	293,427	378,040	-22.4
4	Daihatsu	272,131	345,176	-21.2
5	Nissan	236,965	312,742	-24.2
6	Mazda	89,348	103,810	-13.9
7	Subaru	53,168	69,330	-23.3
8	Mitsubishi	37,767	58,253	-35.2
9	Isuzu	33,454	41,543	-19.5
10	Hino	30,148	35,346	-14.7
11	Lexus	25,226	31,540	-20.0
12	Mercedes Benz	24,994	31,748	-21.3
13	Mitsubishi Fuso	18,904	20,518	-7.9
14	VW	17,988	24,088	-25.3
15	BMW	15,820	23,460	-19.1
16	Audi	9,285	11,314	-17.9
17	Mini	8,473	12,579	-32.6
18	Volvo	7,681	9,438	-18.6
19	Jeep	5,771	6,149	-6.1
20	Peugeot	4,324	5,410	-20.1
	Source: JADA

Top-Selling Car Brands in Japan in 2020 (Half Year)

The contraction in car sales in Japan during the first half of 2020 was shared by all manufacturers with all top 20 brands selling fewer cars than a year ago. Jeep and truck maker Mitsubishi Fuso were the only top brands with sales down by less than ten percent.

There were no changes in the rank order of the top ten biggest car brands in Japan during the first semester of 2020. Toyota easily maintained its leading position in Japan and gained market share over its four largest competitors. Of the top ten brands only Mazda performed better than Toyota.

Honda, Suzuki, and Daihatsu had sales down by more than a fifth while Nissan and Subaru lost nearly a quarter in sales. Mitsubishi sales were down by more than a third — the worst performance of the top 20 car brands in Japan this year.

Commercial vehicle producers Isuzu and Hino, like Mitsubishi Fuso, outperformed the broader market.

Lexus regained 11th place from Mercedes-Benz — the difference of around 200 cars was similar to Mercedes-Benz’s advantage during the first half of last year. Mitsubishi Fuso leapfrogged both Volkswagen and BMW. Audi and Mini swapped places.

Top-Ten Best-Selling Car Models in Japan in 2020 (First Half)

Japan’s ten favorite car models during the first half of 2020 were as follows:

	Brand	Model	2020 (HY)	2019 (HY)	% Change 19/20
1	Toyota	Raize	58,492	–	New
2	Toyota	Corolla	57,235	47,836	19.6
3	Honda	Fit	50,029	45,089	11.0
4	Toyota	Yaris	48,129	–	New
5	Nissan	Note	41,707	68,543	-39.2
6	Toyota	Sienta	40,194	50,926	-21.1
7	Honda	Freed	38,844	45,548	-14.7
8	Toyota	Rumi	37,622	45,544	-17.4
9	Toyota	Prius	36,630	70,277	-47.9
10	Toyota	Alphard	36,597	35,265	3.8
	Source: JADA

Japan’s Ten Favorite Car Models in 2020 (Half Year)

The top-ten best-selling car models in Japan experienced quite a shakeup during the first six months of 2020 with no model in the same rank position as a year ago. As usual, the Japanese car buyers loved the new and punished the old without mercy.

The best-selling car in Japan thus far in 2020 is the Toyota Raize — a new compact SUV model launched late last year. The evergreen Toyota Corolla was in second place from sixth a year ago with sales up by 20%.

The new Honda Fit launched earlier this year was well received and allowed the Fit to reenter the top ten (from 11th) as the third-most-popular car model in Japan thus far in 2020. Sales were up 11%.

Fourth place also went to a new model: the Toyota Yaris. The model was previously sold as the Vitz but Toyota decided to use the international plate name when the new model was introduced in Japan in February 2020. The Vitz was 10th a year ago with total sales of 45,279 cars.

It was lower sales for the mostly aging models composing the rest of the top-ten list. The Nissan Note slipped from second a year ago with sales down 40%. The Toyota Sienta slipped one position with sales down 15%.

The Honda Freed and Toyota Rumi gained one rank position each despite weaker sales. The Toyota Prius — the top-selling car in Japan during the first semester of 2020 — slipped to 9th with sales nearly halved. The Toyota Aqua similarly had sales down by 43% to slip from 3rd to 12th.

The Toyota Alphard rounded out the list with seven of the top-ten best-selling car models thus far in 2020 built by Toyota.

Best-Selling Kei Mini Cars in Japan in 2020 (Half Year)

The ten favorite kei minicars in Japan during the first six months of 2020 were as follows:

	Brand	Model	2020 (HY)	2019 (HY)	% Change 19/20
	Total Kei Sales		808,081	1,018,072	-20.6
1	Honda	Ｎ-ＢＯＸ	101,454	131,233	-22.7
2	Suzuki	Spacia	65,323	89,750	-27.2
3	Daihatsu	Tant	62,253	81,828	-23.9
4	Nissan	Days	55,239	79,789	-30.8
5	Daihatsu	Move	48,283	68,833	-29.9
6	Daihatsu	Mira	37,894	55,439	-31.6
7	Suzuki	Hustler	37,413	29,712	25.9
8	Honda	Ｎ-ＷＧＮ	34,083	22,687	50.2
9	Suzuki	Wagon R	32,079	51,377	-37.6
10	Suzuki	Alto	30,570	38,139	-19.8
	Source: Zenkeijkyo

Mini cars (kei-jidousya) in Japan are vehicles defined by amongst others being shorter than 3.4 m with a maximum height of 2 m and a maximum width of 1.48 m. The engine capacity is restricted to 0.66 l measured by the Japanese standard.

Kei minicar sales in Japan contracted by a fifth during the first half of 2020 but the top-selling models were still selling in higher numbers than regular passenger cars.

The Honda N-Box easily maintained its position as the top-selling minicar model in Japan and easily outsold the Toyota Raize too. Despite all selling weaker than a year ago, there were no changes to the rank order of the six most popular minicars in Japan during the first half of 2020.

The Suzuki Hustler and Honda N-WGN increased sales and gained sales ranks at the expense of the Suzuki Wagon R and Alto.