Japan May 2018: Toyota Aqua repeats at #1, Suzuki, Lexus impress

The Toyota Aqua scores its first back-to-back win since November 2015.

* Now updated with Top 55 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top 35 kei cars *

The Japanese new car market edges down 1.7% year-on-year in May to 366.155 registrations, leading to a year-to-date volume down 1.1% to 2.278.716 units. Brand leader Toyota skids down 7% to 29.2% share which is still ahead of its 27.9% YTD level. Suzuki surges 28.3% to 14.8% share but remains #3 YTD below Honda, itself up 7.6% to #3 in May. Among other local manufacturers, Daihatsu (-8.2%), Nissan (-17.5%) and even more strikingly Subaru (-35%) struggle whereas Lexus (+56.6%), Hino (+30.7%), Mazda (+24.2%) and Mitsubishi (+11.5%) shine.

The Xbee is up to a record #23 in May, helping Suzuki up 28.3%. Pictures autos-one,.jp

Mercedes (+0.8%) is up one notch on April to #11 overall, holding on to the #1 foreign carmaker title by a very slim margin (104 sales) over Volkswagen soaring 20.8%. BMW (+2.3%), Audi (+18.1%) and Mini (+18.9%) follow. Further down, notice Jaguar (+110.9%), Chevrolet (+85%), Citroen (+79.2%), Alfa Romeo (+70.7%), Abarth (+55.9%), Land Rover (+44.3%), Peugeot (+37.6%), Volvo (+32.6%), Ferrari (+25%) and Jeep (+22.8%) all posting spectacular gains.

Lexus sales are up 56.6% this month at home, led by the NX300.

In the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Aqua repeats its April win thanks to deliveries up 37%, delivering its first back-to-back victory since November 2015 and overtaking the Prius (-39% this month) to rank #2 YTD. The Nissan Note drops 13% in third place but holds onto its YTD pole position with a comfortable 7.500-unit advantage. The Toyota Roomy (+39%), Tank (+35%), Nissan Serena (+23%) and Honda Fit (+16%) also shine in the Top 10.

The 3008 helps Peugeot up 37.6% in Japan this month. Picture webcartop.jp

The Suzuki Xbee is the most popular recent launch (<12 months) up 4 spots on April to a record #23, followed by the Mazda CX-8 at #29 (-3), Honda Civic at #35 (-2), Lexus NX300 at #40 (-1) and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross at #45 (-4). In the remainder of the Top 50 the Toyota Camry (+1826%), Lexus CT200H (+336%), Honda Jade (+216%), Mazda CX-3 (+184%), Lexus NX300H (+165%), Nissan Leaf (+160%), Honda Shuttle (+83%), Toyota Land Cruiser W (+83%) and Honda StepWGN (+57%) all deliver spectacular gains. In the kei cars world, the Honda N-BOX (+43%) and Suzuki Spacia (+46%) produce the largest gains in the Top 12 to cement their domination, with the Mazda Flair Wagon (+111%), Toyota Pixis (+59%) and Subaru Stella (+41%) also in great shape.

Previous month: Japan April 2018: Toyota Aqua leads for first time in 6 months

One year ago: Japan May 2017: Toyota Prius back to top spot, C-HR #2

Full May 2018 Top 55 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top 35 kei cars below.