Japan April 2012: Toyota Aqua, Vellfire, Alphard and 86 all impress

Toyota 86

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

Japanese car sales are up a record 92% year-on-year in April to 208,977 however this is to be compared with the record low of April last year when the market was devastated by the after-effects of the tsunami. Note April 2012 is still below April 2010. In this positive context Toyota fares much better than any other manufacturer, with sales up 188% to 102,550 units or nearly 50% of the market and more than 3 times the amount of the #2, Honda up 61% to 30,561 units.

Toyota Aqua

The Toyota Prius enjoys its 11th consecutive month in pole position in Japan with 21,906 units, up a fantastic 349% year-on-year. It is however being threatened by its little hybrid sister the Toyota Aqua, up one further spot on March to reach #2 with 18,481 sales at its 4th full month of sales in the country. The Aqua is already the best-selling variant on the market and could become the #1 seller overall in Japan as early as next month…

Toyota Vellfire

There are a few other great performers in the ranking in April and almost all of them are Toyotas! The Toyota Vellfire is up 5 spots on March and a huge 879% year-on-year thanks to its facelift to #7 and 4,730 units while its twin the Alphard does almost as well, up 11 and 772% to #9 with 3,865 sales. The Suzuki Swift is up 13 to #8 and the Suzuki Solio is up 8 to #15.

Toyota Alphard

But most interestingly two recently launched models make sparks in the ranking this month: the sporty Toyota 86 lands directly in 17th position with 2,760 sales for its first full month of sales in Japan, and the Mazda CX-5 is up 10 spots to #19 with 2,427 units sold. This is however not the CX-5’s best position in the world: it could reach #11 in Australia and #6 in New Zealand, both rankins still to be confirmed.

Previous month: Japan March 2012: Toyota Prius, Aqua and Honda Fit all beat records

One year ago: Japan April 2011: Quake brings market down to lowest level

Full April 2012 Top 30 Ranking Table below.