2026 (Q1) Japan: Best-Selling Car Models and Kei Minicars

2026 (Q1): The Toyota Yaris and Corolla were Japan’s favorite car models, but the Honda N-Box and other minicars outsold both.

Toyota continued its dominance of the Japanese new car market by supplying the four best-selling car models during the first quarter of 2026. The Yaris, Corolla, and Sienta remained Japan’s favorite car models. The best-selling kei minicars were the Honda N-Box, Suzuki Spacia, and Daihatsu Move. In the first quarter of 2026, the Japanese new-vehicle market contracted by 2.5% to 1,253,357 units. Toyota remained the top-selling car brand in Japan.

Latest Japan Car Sales Statistics: 2025 — Brands, Models, Minicars; Data for 2025 – 2009.

Top 20 Best-Selling Car Models in Japan in 2026 (Q1)

The 20 best-selling car models in Japan, excluding kei minicars, according to JADA were:

R	Brand	Model	Model (Japanese)	January	Febuary	March	2026 (Q1)	2026 (Q1)	% Change
1	Toyota	Yaris	ヤリス	13,607	11,280	11,192	36,079	47,985	-24.8
2	Toyota	Corolla	カローラ	12,835	9,699	9,218	31,752	44,649	-28.9
3	Toyota	Sienta	シエンタ	11,674	9,770	10,145	31,589	32,783	-3.6
4	Toyota	Raize	ライズ	10,646	8,726	9,239	28,611	22,187	29
5	Honda	Freed	フリード	10,932	8,420	7,135	26,487	27,630	-4.1
6	Toyota	Voxy	ヴォクシー	8,580	8,196	7,190	23,966	20,063	19.5
7	Honda	Vezel	ヴェゼル	9,519	6,726	6,028	22,273	19,529	14.1
8	Nissan	Note	ノート	9,169	6,841	5,714	21,724	26,411	-17.7
9	Toyota	Roomy	ルーミー	6,336	7,448	7,694	21,478	21,535	-0.3
10	Toyota	Noah	ノア	8,075	6,889	6,439	21,403	21,810	-1.9
11	Nissan	Serena	セレナ	7,794	7,224	6,263	21,281	23,378	-9
12	Toyota	Alphard	アルファード	6,462	6,206	7,860	20,528	26,130	-21.4
13	Toyota	Aqua	アクア	7,738	5,596	5,268	18,602	23,532	-21
14	Suzuki	Jimny	ジムニー	6,151	5,894	6,322	18,367	8,375	119.3
15	Honda	Stepwgn	ステップワゴン	5,804	4,824	5,205	15,833	16,276	-2.7
16	Toyota	Harrier	ハリアー	5,964	5,183	4,678	15,825	18,596	-14.9
17	Suzuki	Solio	ソリオ	5,528	4,498	4,456	14,482	16,257	-10.9
18	Honda	Fit	フィット	6,367	3,885	3,435	13,687	14,912	-8.2
19	Toyota	Prius	プリウス	5,228	4,319	4,103	13,650	25,783	-47.1
20	Toyota	RAV4	ＲＡＶ４	7,513	4,111	1,546	13,170	7,082	86

Note: Based on car sales data released by JADA.

Japan’s Favorite Car Models in 2026 (Q1)

Toyota maintained its traditional dominance of the Japanese new car market with the same three models as a year ago being the top-selling cars in Japan during the first quarter of the year. The Toyota Yaris remained Japan’s favorite car model despite sales slipping by a quarter.

Sales of the evergreen Toyota Corolla slipped even more, but it narrowly outsold the slightly podgy but very practical Toyota Sienta.

The rest of the list is, as is often the case in Japan, quite different from last year’s. Japanese car buyers love the new and aging models see sales dropping fast in anticipation of the launch of updated versions. (Note RAV4 at 20th (+86%) and Jimny at 14th (+119%).)

The Toyota Raize improved from 10th to fourth with sales increasing by 29% — the best performance of the top ten models in Japan thus far in 2026. It pushed the Honda Freed, Japan’s most popular non-Toyota model, down one rank position.

The Toyota Voxy and Honda Vezel both entered the top-ten with seven rank position gains. The Nissan Note dropped three places.

An interesting car is the Suzuki Jimny. It is more famous as a kei car, see below, but the larger five-door version is sold in Japan as a regular compact car and thus included in these statistics. More significantly, this larger version of the Jimny is produced in India, which made Suzuki the largest car importer in Japan by volume in recent months.

Top 15 Best-Selling Kei Minicar Models in Japan in 2026 (Q1)

The top-selling mini-vehicle producers by brand in Japan in 2026 (January to March), according to Zenkeijkyo were:

R	Brand	Model	Model	2026 (Q1)	2025 (Q1)	% Change
1	Honda	N-Box	Ｎ-ＢＯＸ	56,383	58,844	-4.2
2	Suzuki	Spacia	スペーシア	44,528	47,063	-5.4
3	Daihatsu	Move	ムーヴ	36,623	26,003	40.8
4	Daihatsu	Tanto	タント	35,877	36,393	-1.4
5	Nissan	Roox	ルークス	30,619	22,022	39
6	Suzuki	Hustler	ハスラー	24,249	24,692	-1.8
7	Mitsubishi	e K	デリカミニ／ｅＫ	19,171	14,008	36.9
8	Suzuki	Wagon R	ワゴンＲ	17,335	19,426	-10.8
9	Daihatsu	Mira	ミラ	15,493	15,478	0.1
10	Nissan	Dayz	デイズ	13,793	13,826	-0.2
11	Suzuki	Alto	アルト	13,698	16,011	-14.4
12	Daihatsu	Taft	タフト	12,575	16,301	-22.9
13	Honda	N-Wgn	Ｎ-ＷＧＮ	6,785	7,393	-8.2
14	Suzuki	Jimny	ジムニー	8,096	14,327	-43.5
15	Suzuki	Every Wagon	エブリイワゴン	5,580	5,468	2

Note: Based on minicar sales data released by Zenkeijkyo.

The total market for kei minivehicles in Japan expanded by 4.7% to 474,879 vehicles during the first quarter of 2026.

The Honda N-Box and Suzuki Spacia remained the most popular minicars in Japan despite weaker sales in a growing market. Daihatsu continued its recovery from a testing scandal, with sales sharply up for the Move while Tanto sales were only moderately lower.

The Nissan Roox and Mitsubishi e K also increased sales strongly.

The worst performer was the Suzuki Jimny. While the three-door version is a kei minicar, the larger 5-door versions are included in the regular car sales data — see above — where the Jimny took a model record 14th place during the first three months of 2026.

Top 10 Best-Selling Car and Minicar Models in Japan in 2026 (Q1)

The combined list of best-selling car and minicar models in Japan during the first quarter of 2026 were:

R	Brand	Model	2026 (Q1)	2026 (Q2)	% Change	Kei
1	Honda	N-Box	56,383	58,844	-4.2	kei
2	Suzuki	Spacia	44,528	47,063	-5.4	kei
3	Daihatsu	Move	36,623	26,003	40.8	kei
4	Toyota	Yaris	36,079	47,985	-24.8
5	Daihatsu	Tanto	35,877	36,393	-1.4	kei
6	Toyota	Corolla	31,752	44,649	-28.9
7	Toyota	Sienta	31,589	32,783	-3.6
8	Nissan	Roox	30,619	22,022	39	kei
9	Toyota	Raize	28,611	22,187	29
10	Honda	Freed	26,487	27,630	-4.1

For a variety of reasons, the Japanese car industry usually treated kei minicars and regular car statistics separately. Combined, three minicars outsold the popular Toyota Yaris.

Half of the top ten models in Japan are minicars. However, lower down the ranks, the incredible variety of models on the Japanese market simply overwhelms the minicar offerings. Only two further minicars are on the top 20 list.

→ As usual, Toyota was the top-selling car brand in Japan in January, February, and March 2026.