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Japan June 2015: Facelifted Toyota Corolla confirms #2 spot

Toyota Corolla Japan June 2015. Picture courtesy autocar.jpThe Toyota Corolla is the 2nd best-selling passenger car in Japan for the 2nd straight month.

* See the Top 60 brands, Top 30 regular cars, Top 30 kei cars and Top 20 imports by clicking on the title *

This update was created in collaboration with Stephen Bloom.

Sales of new vehicles in Japan are down 2% year-on-year in June to 442.631 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 2.676.634 units, down 11% on 2014. The industry is still feeling the impact of new tax rates that hit kei cars on April 1 with their sales down 13% to 163.256 units while regular cars are up 5% to 279.375 led by foreign brands at 29.031, up a whopping 19%. Toyota (+4%) and Honda (-7%) dominate, Mazda (+47%), Mercedes (+52%), BMW (+25%) and Lexus (+47%) buck the trend with splendid year-on-year gains this month, while Mitsubishi (-24%), Suzuki (-21%), and Daihatsu (-7%) continue to be pulled down by ther kei divisions. Further down, Mini (+47%), Porsche (+60%) and Ferrari (+102%) make themselves noticed.

Mazda Demio Japan June 2015. Picture courtesy webcb.netMazda Demio

In the regular models ranking, Toyota continues to monopolise the podium starting with the Aqua with 18.087 sales and marking its 13th consecutive month at #1. The recently facelifted Toyota Corolla is up 36% and holds onto #2, followed by the Prius (-19%) and Honda Fit (-33%). The new Honda StepWGN climbs to #7 and 7.572 units (+107%), its best performance since September 2013. At #8 the new Mazda Demio is up 4-fold on June 2014 as its crossover cousin CX-3 slips down 6 spots on May to #23. The new Toyota Vellfire (+149%) and Alphard (+174%) both continue to perform well, coming in at #11 and #17 respectively, while the third sibling, the new Toyota Esquire, shines at #12. The new Honda Shuttle climbs up 4 ranks to #15 in its first full month in market with 5.322 units.

Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Japan June 2015. Picture courtesy gazoo.comToyota Land Cruiser 70

Finally, the Toyota Land Cruiser makes a return appearance in the ranking this month at #29 with 1.844 units as the 30th anniversary edition 70 series enters its final few months of availability. Over on the kei car chart, the Honda N-BOX is again in the lead up 20% with 16.871 units. Last year’s champ, the Daihatsu Tanto is up one place to #2, and the Daihatsu Move climbs four to take the #3 spot this month, leaving the Nissan Dayz in #4. The new Honda S660 adds another 1.095 units to its total while its rival the Daihatsu Copen adds a third variant this month, the retro-styled Cero.

Mercedes CLA Japan June 2015. Picture courtesy trendy.nikkeibp.co.jpMercedes CLA

As another quarter closes we have the foreign model ranking with the VW Golf again in #1 despite sales down 2% to 5.754 units, the Mini is up 37% to retake the #2 from the new Mercedes C-Class, itself up 137%. Mercedes continues to best Volkswagen for market share in 2015 lifted by strong sales of the CLA (+181%) and GLA (+116%). Other foreign models doing well in Japan over the period include the BMW 1 Series (+72%), Audi A3 (+21%), Fiat 500 and Volvo V40 (+18%).

Previous month: Japan May 2015: Honda Shuttle and Mazda Roadster land

One year ago: Japan June 2014: Toyota Aqua back to #1, Honda Vezel up to #4

One year ago (kei): Japan kei cars June 2014: Daihatsu Tanto leads, Copen returns

One year ago (imports): Japan Imports Q2 2014: Sedan pushes Audi A3 up to 5th place

Full June 2015 Top 60 brands, Top 30 regular cars, Top 15 kei cars and Q2 2015 Top 20 imports below.

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