Japan Kei cars April 2012: Honda NBOX takes the lead!

Honda NBOX Custom (kinda looks like a warped Toyota Land Cruiser don’t you think?)

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Kei car market once again behaves like the passenger car one this month, up 96% to 150,654 registrations due to the comparison with a record low in April 2011 when the market was devastated by the after-effects of the tsunami. The year-to-date total stands at 743,653 units, up 48% on 2011. Big surprise this month: for the first time ever, the Honda NBOX takes the lead of the rankings only 5 months after its launch, up 4 spots on March to 16,928 sales! These sales also include the Custom version pictured above, and this would be the first time ever a Honda leads the Kei car ranking!

Honda NBOX

The NBOX interrupted 6 consecutive months of leadership of the Daihatsu Mira, kicked down to #2 with 15,542 units, still up a massive 304% year-on-year thanks to the arrival of the e:s version. The Mira is #1 year-to-date with 87,081 sales, up 261% year-on-year. Rounding up the podium again is the Daihatsu Tanto at 13,486 units, up 119% on April, followed by the Suzuki Wagon R down 2 spots on March and the Daihatsu Move down 1.

Previous month: Japan Kei cars March 2012: Daihatsu Mira just under 30,000 sales

One year ago: Japan Kei cars April 2011: Subaru stops, places Stella in Top 10

Full April 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.