Japan December 2010: new Toyota Ractis #3, Prius breaks record

Toyota Prius

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

Japanese car sales increased 11% in 2010 at 3,229,716 registrations, in spite of a very weak 2nd half. The Toyota Prius is the best selling car in Japan for the second year in a row, up 51% to reach 315,669 sales. Never before had a single car sold so many units in a year in Japan, the previous record being held by the Toyota Corolla in 1990 with 300,008 units.

The rest of the Top 5 all improved their sales too: the Honda Fit (Jazz) is up 18% at #2, the Toyota Vitz (Yaris) is up 4% at #3, the Corolla up 23% at #4 and the Honda Freed gains 2 spots and 20% in 5th. The Honda StepWGN registers the highest increase in the Top 20 at +88% and +13 spots in 7th with 80,934 sales.

Toyota Ractis

In December, the new generation Toyota Ractis (Verso S) is off to a great start, climbing from 23rd last month directly to 3rd with 6,670 sales. The Nissan Juke is stable at #12 with 3,034 sales. There are 3 Subarus in the Top 30: the Liberty (#25), Forester (#27) and Impreza (#28).

You can check out every monthly Top 30 for 2010 here.

Previous year: Japan 2009: Toyota Prius takes off, #1 at 200,000+ sales

Next year: Japan 2011: Toyota Prius leads in difficult year

December and Full Year 2010 Top 30 Ranking Tables below.