Japan March 2013: Toyota Aqua & Nissan Note hit highest volume

Toyota Aqua

* See the Top 30 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Seventh consecutive month of year-on-year decline for new car sales in Japan, down 16% to 420,069 registrations. The top of the models ranking is extremely stable this month: the Toyota Aqua continues to amaze the world: lodges its 6th month in a row in pole position and breaks the 30,000 monthly unit barrier for the first time ever at a record 33,693 sales, up 16% on March 2012 which was its previous best. The Aqua’s advantage over the #2 (the faithful Toyota Prius) has grown back up slightly to 1,166 units vs. 1,063 last month.

Nissan Note

In third position for the 7th consecutive month, the Nissan Note passes the 20,000 monthly unit milestone for the very first time, delivering a record 21,336 units, double its March 2012 score and beating its previous best of 18,355 sales from last September. The Honda Fit is down a painful 40% at #4 with 20,327 units, followed by the Nissan Serena at 12,905 (-4%). The Toyota Crown is in great shape again, up 145% year-on-year to #6 while the Mazda CX-5 is back from outside the Top 30 to #14. There are 3 Subarus in the Top 30 potentially for the first time ever in Japan: the Impreza at #11 (+3), Forester at #20 (+6) and Legacy at #30.

Previous month: Japan February 2013: Mazda Atenza and Mitsubishi Outlander up

One year ago: Japan March 2012: Toyota Prius, Aqua and Honda Fit all beat records

Full March 2013 Top 30 Ranking Table below.