Japan July 2015: New generation lifts Toyota Sienta to #8

Toyota Sienta

* See the Top 30 regular cars, kei cars and Top 55 brands by clicking on the title *

Sales of new vehicles in Japan are down 8% year-on-year in June to 425.093 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 3.101.727 units, down 11% on 2014. New tax rates for kei cars are especially pulling down that segment with sales down 18% to 142.854 units while regular cars are down 1% to 279.375 units and foreign brands are faring the best at 20.607, up 12%. Toyota follows the market at -8% to 132.917 sales and 31.3% share vs. 28.2% year-to-date. New models are helping Mazda maintain double digit increases this month (up 35%), while Honda (-15%), Suzuki (-18%), and Daihatsu (-11%) pay the price of their over-reliance on kei car sales.

Mitsubishi Outlander

Mitsubishi (+1%) and Isuzu (+2%) resist at #8 and #9 while Lexus is up a whopping 35% to 4.392 sales and up 5 spots on June to #10, making the Top 10 entirely Japanese and overtaking Mercedes (+13%) and BMW (+16%) to become the best-selling luxury brand at home. Renault (+23%), Maserati (+33%), Volvo (+40%), Porsche (+84%), Lamborghini (+88%) and Ferrari (+145%) all post very impressive year-on-year gains in such a negative context.

Daihatsu Move Custom

In the regular models ranking, the Toyota Aqua continues its reign at #1 with 17,711 units followed by the Corolla in its third month at #2 following its recent facelift. But the big news this month is the new generation Toyota Sienta (+445%) that launched July 7 which re-enters the chart at #8 with 7,377 units, its best ever rank and monthly volume. Up 8 places to #18 the Subaru Impreza (+45%) adds a hybrid model to its lineup. The Mitsubishi Outlander (+233%) also re-enters the chart at #25 thanks to a mid-cycle facelift.

Suzuki Lapin

Most kei models are down double digits over last year in the wake of the April 1 tax change including the Honda N-BOX (-19%) at #1 with 11,879 units and Daihatsu Tanto (-31%) at #2. The Suzuki WagonR climbs 5 places to #3 while its stablemate Alto is boosted 6% thanks to the new generation Suzuki Lapin, as is the Daihatsu Move – please note that while Lapin is generally considered its own nameplate totals are included under Alto whose platform it shares. Lapin sales are estimated at approximately 4,000 units. The Honda N-ONE climbs 4 places thanks to a minor facelift and new sporty trims. Toyota adds yet another model to its flailing Pixis lineup with the Pixis Mega, a rebadged Daihatsu Wake.

Previous post: Japan 1st Half 2015: Mercedes impressive in market down 11%

Previous month: Japan June 2015: Facelifted Toyota Corolla confirms #2 spot

One year ago (regular): Japan July 2014: Subaru Levorg almost inside Top 10

One year ago (kei): Japan July 2014: Suzuki Hustler breaks records

Full July 2015 Top 30 regular cars, kei cars and Top 55 brands below.