Japan sales fall 11% in April

Japan’s new vehicle market declined by a further 11% to 310,346 units in April 2024 from 349,592 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

The market had been in sharp decline since Daihatsu was ordered at the end of December to halt production after an investigation found it had falsified safety test results over a period of decades. This also affected sales of models shared with other brands including Toyota, Mazda and Subaru.

After resuming production in February of some models found not to have been affected by the malpractice, the automaker earlier this month was allowed to resume full production at all of its domestic plants. The market was expected to rebound in coming months as a result.

Bank of Japan last month ended its negative interest rate policy with household spending expected to pick up following recent wage hikes across the country. The economy was estimated to have expanded by just 0.5% in the first quarter with growth forecast to accelerate in the second.

Overall vehicle sales in Japan fell 17% to 1,441,486 units in the first four months of 2024 after growing 16% to 1,731,150 in the same period of last year with passenger vehicle sales declining by 15% to 1,226,847 units while truck sales plunged 26% to 211,024 units. Sales of medium and large buses and coaches continued to recover from the earlier Covid related travel restrictions with the market growing by 26% to 3,615 units year to date.

Toyota cumulative four month sales fell by almost 27% to 427,359 units with deliveries also affected by a data rigging scandal at an affiliated diesel engine supplier. Daihatsu sales plunged 73% to 61,532 units year to date (YTD) while Mazda sales were down 31% at 49,543 units.