Japan July 2019: Toyota Prius (+34.1%), Daihatsu Tanto (+35.6%) help market up 4.1%

A new Daihatsu Tanto launched in July. 

New vehicle sales in Japan gain 4.1% year-on-year in July to 459.456 units, leading to a year-to-date volume now up 1.2% to 3.212.876. Regular cars (+6.7%) lift the market up at 300.799 this month vs. 158.657 kei cars (-0.7%), however both segments edge up so far in 2019: +1.1% for regular cars (2.036.147) and +1.5% for kei cars (1.176.729). The Top 2 most popular carmaker both double the market growth rate: Toyota (+8.2%) soars to a mammoth 32.4% share vs. 29.5% so far this year, its highest monthly share in over 2 years – since June 2017. Honda (+8.5%) does even better but its July share at 14.4% is in line with its YTD level of 14.6%. Daihatsu (+2.1%) although up, trails the market and distances Suzuki (-12%) and Nissan (+0.04%) both underperforming. It’s a commercial vehicle month: Isuzu (+33.2%) and Hino (+26%) post the largest gains in the Top 10, with Mazda (+9.8%) also particularly strong. Lexus (+39.7%) is the most improved brand in the Top 20, with Jeep (+27.7%), Peugeot (+20.3%) and Mercedes (+10.4%) also strong. Among smaller brands, Lamborghini (+105%), Bentley (+92.3%), Rolls Royce (+66.7%), Jaguar (+64.5%), Porsche (+52.3%), Cadillac (+51.4%), DS (+34.1%), Abarth (+28.4%), Ford (+25.6%) and Citroen (+15.9%) stand out.

In the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Prius (+34.1%) confirms a facelift was all that it needed to reclaim control of the charts, snapping the #1 spot for the 4th straight month ahead of the Nissan Note (-1.9%) and a resurgent Toyota Sienta (+56.5%) also helped by a recent facelift. The Toyota Vitz (-13.9%) and Aqua (-17.7%) round up the Top 5 just above a very dynamic Toyota Roomy (+18%). The Corolla (-10.5%) makes it 6 Toyotas in the July Top 7. The new Toyota RAV4 slides into the Top 10 for the 2nd time in the past 3 months, easily topping the new launch ladder above the Mazda3 (#23), Lexus UX250H (#44) and ES300H (#45). The Honda Shuttle (+190.1%) Toyota Camry (+47.2%), Land Cruiser W (+28.6%), Mitsubishi Delica D5 (+28.5%), Toyota JPN Taxi (+24.3%) and Alphard (+20.5%) also post spectacular gains in the remainder of the Top 50.

The Honda N-BOX (+22.3%) continues to dominate the kei cars ranking with over 24.000 sales, with two additional keis outselling the Toyota Prius this month: the Nissan Dayz (+26.5%) and Daihatsu Tanto (+35.6%) lifted by a new model launched this month. The Suzuki Spacia (+7.1%) and Daihatsu Move (+1.5%) close up a Top 5 going completely against the grain of a kei market that shows clear signs of concentrating towards the best-sellers, the Top 5 holding 48% of the kei segment this month vs. just 40% a year ago in July 2018.

Previous post: Japan First Half 2019: Toyota Prius back in charge, kei cars up in shy market (+0.8%)

Previous month: Japan June 2019: Toyota Prius 3peats at #1 regular cars, Nissan Dayz up 41% to #2 overall

One year ago: Japan July 2018: Lexus (+30.8%), Mitsubishi (+20.8%) lift market up

Full July 2019 Top 55 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top 32 All kei cars below.