Japan October 2017: New Leaf can’t prevent Nissan’s freefall at -43%

Thanks to the new model, the Nissan Leaf breaks into its home Top 20 for the first time.

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 54 All-brands, Top 30 regular cars and Top 33 kei cars *

New car sales in Japan recede 1.7% year-on-year in October to 372.470, leading to a year-to-date total up 6.7% to 4.433.053. Regular cars are down 4.7% to 231.563 while kei cars are up 1.7% to 140.907. The market decline is solely the works of Nissan, embattled in an inspection scandal and whose sales freefall 43% to just 22.049 this month for a meagre 5.9% market share, half of its 11.7% year-to-date level. In late September, it was revealed that Nissan’s vehicles had been inspected by uncertified workers. Nissan then halted car shipments and production at all six of its Japanese assembly plants in late October after discovering that faulty quality inspections had continued at most locations in spite of the September scandal. Nissan is due to resume local production and shipment of new vehicles on November 7. Removing Nissan shows a Japanese market up 3% year-on-year in October.

The Toyota Roomy hits a record 4th place in October.

Meanwhile market leader Toyota edges up 0.6% to 32.2% share, a full two percentage points above its YTD level, Honda is up 2.6% to 15.7%, Daihatsu up 9.2% to 13.9%, Suzuki up 1.7% to 13.2%, Mazda up 8.1% to 3.8% and Subaru up 14.5% to 3.5%. In the Top 10, only Mitsubishi (-18.1%) and Isuzu (-5%) lose ground alongside Nissan. Mercedes dominates foreign carmakers at #10, up just 0.4% above BMW (+9.7%), Volkswagen (+14.9%), Audi (+2.8%), Mini (+6%) and Volvo (+25.7%). Notice also Aston Martin up 257.1%, Citroen up 148.6%, Land Rover up 84.7%, Lamborghini up 65.2%, Ferrari up 61.1%, Cadillac up 37.5% and Smart up 30.3%.

The Toyota Camry is up to its highest ranking this decade at home.

In the models ranking, the Toyota Aqua (-20%) and Prius (-29%) reclaim the top two spots, both just above 10.000 units and separated by only 17 sales. The Nissan Note, #1 in September, tumbles down 22 spots to #23, while both the Nissan Serena (#7 last month) and X-Trail (#17) step out of the Top 30. The Toyota Roomy shoots up 6 spots to #4, the Toyota Tank is up 4 to #9, both hitting their highest ever monthly rankings just under one year after their launch. More significantly, they outsell the Toyota C-HR down to #12, the nameplate’s lowest ever ranking on a full month. The Subaru Impreza is up 112% to #11, the Toyota Harrier up 63% to #14, the Mazda CX-5 up 249% to #18 and the Suzuki Swift up 83% to #24, all thanks to new generations.

Honda N-BOX Custom

The two best performances of the month are delivered by 1. The new gen Nissan Leaf up 7-fold on the previous model a year ago to land at #19 with 3.629 sales, a new record for the nameplate and its third ever Top 30 ranking at home after February 2011 (#25) and January 2016 (#28). 2. The new gen Toyota Camry is up 11-fold year-on-year to #22, its fourth consecutive Top 30 ranking and the nameplate’s highest spot this decade. Over in the kei cars aisle, the Honda N-BOX is helped by its facelift up 53% to 21.233 sales, comfortably distancing the Daihatsu Move (+12%) and Tanto (+1%) while the Suzuki WagonR (+48%) and Daihatsu Mira (+46%) both post spectacular gains. The Nissan Dayz is hit at -37% to #8 from #2 in September and loses its YTD 2nd place to the Daihatsu Tanto.

Previous month: Japan September 2017: Nissan Note, Honda Freed shine, market up 3.9%

One year ago: Japan October 2016: Nissan Serena shoots up to #3 as market nudges down

Full October 2017 Top 54 All-brands, Top 30 regular cars and Top 33 kei cars below.