Japan November 2013: Honda Fit confirms pole position, Odyssey at highest in 9 years

Honda Fit

* See the Top 30 best-selling models and Top 13 local-brands by clicking on the title! *

Euphoric month for new car sales in Japan, up 13% year-on-year in November to 276,399 registrations. After snapping up the top spot from the two Toyota hybrids last month, the Honda Fit confirms it is here to stay and ranks #1 once again in November thanks to a massive 26,235 sales, up 181% year-on-year. This is the Fit nameplate’s third best monthly volume ever below March 2012 (34,161) and September 2011 (27,980)! The Toyota Prius remains #2, down 6% to 20,706 units while the Toyota Aqua is down a worrying 35% year-on-year to 17,238 sales, however its advantage over the Prius year-to-date (8,941 units) is almost unassailable and 2013 should be the first year the Aqua is crowned as Japan’s best-seller…

Honda Odyssey Absolute

In 4th place and thanks to the newly released hybrid variant, the Toyota Corolla improves again on an already excellent October score to 13,395 sales, more than double its level from one year ago. This is the Corolla’s 2nd best monthly figure in almost 4 years (since March 2010), just below the 13,404 units it clocked in July 2012. The Corolla is now up to #5 year-to-date, passing the Nissan Serena in the process. But wait there is much more movement inside the Japanese Top 30 this month…

The Mazda Axela is back inside the Top 30 after a two year-absence…

Thanks to the 5th generation of the model now on sale, the Honda Odyssey makes a thunderous return inside the Japanese Top 30 four years after its last appearance in December 2009, landing directly at #11 with 4,527 sales, up 920% year-on-year. The last time the Odyssey ranked better was in August 2004 (#9) and the last time it sold more units in a month was in September 2006 (4,588). We also welcome back the Mazda Axela (aka Mazda3) in the Top 30 for the first time since November 2011, up 315% year-on-year to #16 with 3,623 units, which could potentially be the nameplate’s best-ever monthly ranking at home! Notice also the Honda Accord lodging a second consecutive month inside the Top 30 – this is unheard of in Japan – at #30 with 2,099 sales, up a mammoth 1466% year-on-year…

Previous month: Japan October 2013: Honda Fit #1 for the first time in 29 months

One year ago: Japan November 2012: Toyota Aqua #1, Subaru Forester at best-ever #11

Full November 2013 Top 30 models and Top 13 brands Ranking Tables below.