2026 (HY): Toyota gained market share and remained the best-selling vehicle manufacturer and top car brand in Japan ahead of Suzuki and Honda. The Toyota Yaris was the most popular car model, and the Honda N-Box was Japan’s favorite kei mini car.
Japan’s total new vehicle market, including cars, buses, and commercial vehicles (trucks), expanded by 1.8% to 2,387,189 vehicles in the first half of 2026. Toyota, Daihatsu, and Mitsubishi gained market share while sales were weaker for Suzuki, Nissan, Mazda, and Subaru. Sales of imported car brands in Japan were sharply down, with Mercedes-Benz remaining the top-selling foreign car brand in Japan. The Toyota Yaris was again the best-selling car model in Japan in 2026 (HY), and the Honda N-Box was the favorite Kei minicar.
Latest Japan Car Sales Statistics: 2026 (HY): Brands, Models; 2026(Q3): Brands, Models; 2025: Brands, Models, Minicars; Data for 2025 – 2009.
Best-Selling Vehicle Brands in Japan in 2026 (First Half)
Japan’s largest vehicle manufacturers, including car, trucks, and bus sales, during the first half of 2026, according to JADA, were:
| R | Brand | Brand | 2026 (HY) | 2025 (HY) | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market | 合 計 | 2,387,189 | 2,345,461 | 1.8 | |
| 1 | Toyota | トヨタ | 763,568 | 724,267 | 5.4 |
| 2 | Suzuki | スズキ | 372,105 | 377,344 | -1.4 |
| 3 | Honda | ホンダ | 320,604 | 319,707 | 0.3 |
| 4 | Daihatsu | ダイハツ | 280,607 | 261,963 | 7.1 |
| 5 | Nissan | 日 産 | 217,287 | 220,495 | -1.5 |
| 6 | Mazda | マツダ | 76,641 | 81,577 | -6.1 |
| 7 | Mitsubishi | 三 菱 | 66,907 | 61,121 | 9.5 |
| 8 | Subaru | ＳＵＢＡＲＵ | 49,941 | 55,981 | -10.8 |
| 9 | Lexus | レクサス | 41,051 | 44,087 | -6.9 |
| 10 | Isuzu | いすゞ | 36,576 | 36,516 | 0.2 |
| 11 | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz | 23,064 | 25,016 | -7.8 |
| 12 | Hino | 日 野 | 19,068 | 18,794 | 1.5 |
| 13 | Mitsubishi Fuso | 三菱ふそう | 18,648 | 15,134 | 23.2 |
| 14 | BMW | BMW | 14,872 | 17,958 | -17.2 |
| 15 | VW | VW | 13,872 | 17,616 | -21.3 |
| 16 | Audi | Audi | 10,320 | 11,503 | -10.3 |
| 17 | BMW MINI | BMW MINI | 8,748 | 9,581 | -8.7 |
| 18 | Volvo | Volvo | 6,210 | 5,919 | 4.9 |
| 19 | UD Trucks | UDトラックス | 6,197 | 6,172 | 0.4 |
| 20 | Porsche | Porsche | 5,797 | 5,539 | 4.7 |
Based on sales data released by JADA.
Japan’s Largest Car Brands in 2026 (Half Year)
Toyota easily maintained its position as Japan’s leading vehicle manufacturer and top-selling car brand. Due to the size of Toyota, its 5.4% increase in sales lifted the whole Japanese car market. Toyota’s dominance of the car market in Japan was confirmed not only by the Toyota Yaris remaining the favorite car in Japan but also by Toyota producing 16 of the top 30 best-selling car models in Japan in the first half of 2026.
Second-placed Suzuki also had weaker sales down by 1.4% but remained comfortably ahead of Honda, which failed to gain from the expanding market.
Daihatsu was the best-performing of the five largest car brands in Japan in the first half of 2026. Only the much smaller Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Fuso improved more.
Nissan, Mazda, and Lexus had weaker sales, while Subaru was the worst-performing Japanese car brand in the first half of 2026.
Best-Selling Foreign Car Brands in Japan in 2026 (HY)
The sales volumes of foreign car brands in Japan remain very low and most import brands had weaker sales in Japan in the first half of 2026.
Mercedes-Benz was again the best-selling foreign car brand in Japan despite an 8% contraction in sales. BMW moved into second despite sales 17% weaker because Volkswagen sales in Japan were down by a fifth in the first semester of 2026.
→ Japan’s favorite car models in 2026 (HY) were the same as in full-year 2025 and 2026 (Q1): the Toyota Yaris compact car and the Honda N-Box kei mini car.