Japan October 2011: Toyota Prius and Honda Fit impress again

Toyota Prius MPV (US version)

* See the Top 30 best-selling models by clicking on the title of the article or ‘Read more’! *

Japanese new car sales are up an impressive 28% year-on-year vs. October 2010 when sales tanked on the first full month after government subsidies to replace cars older than 13 years expired. This rise may be a one-off as Japanese car makers are bracing for the full impact of the Thailand floods that rippled across their global supply chains.

The 3 best-selling models in Japan this month grow faster than the market: the Toyota Prius is up 36% with 29,632 sales and the Honda Fit is up 59% at 22,352 units, both boosted by their MPV versions, while the Toyota Vitz gains 58% at 10,009 units.

Honda Fit Shuttle

The Toyota Corolla is up one spot on September to #4 but down 4% year-on-year at 7,434 sales, it is followed by the Nissan Serena, up a massive 195% year-on-year. Other great performers this month include the Honda StepWGN up 11 spots on last month to #11, the Toyota Estima up 21 spots to #11, the Toyota Crown up 15 spots to #15, the Mazda Axela (aka Mazda3) up to #23 and the Toyota Premio up to #28.

Previous month: see the Japanese September 2011 Top 30 best-selling models here.

Full October 2011 Top 30 Ranking Table below.