Japan September 2019: Lexus (+117.7%), Daihatsu (+31.2%), Toyota (+23.4%) lift market to largest gain in over 2 years (+12.9%)

The new model boosts Daihatsu Tanto sales up 84.3% in September.

New vehicle sales in Japan surge +12.9% year-on-year in September to 548.209 units, its largest gain since June 2017 (+13.4%), lifting the year-to-date volume up 3.1% to 4.149.685. If last month the market growth was almost entirely due to dynamic kei cars, this month the gains are homogenous with regular cars up 12.8% to 347.706 and kei cars up 13.2% to 200.503. Year-to-date, kei cars also have a slight advantage at +3.8% to 1.523.114 vs. +2.8% for regular cars at 2.626.571. Brand leader Toyota (+23.4%) almost doubles the market growth rate to reaffirm its domination at 28.3% share vs. just 13.3% for the #2 Honda (+2.8%) posting a much shyer gain. Daihatsu (+31.8%) scores the largest gain in the Top 9 and remains at #3 but is still below Suzuki (+1.7%) YTD. Lexus (+117.7%) is the champion of the month, more than doubling its sales year-on-year at #10 thanks partly to the new UX. Mazda (+21.6%), Mitsubishi (+18.6%) and Mercedes (+13%) also shine in the Top 10. Below, notice UD Trucks (+64.4%), Jeep (+63.2%), Fiat (+47.5%), Land Rover (+23.5%), Volvo (+22.2%), Volkswagen (+17.2%), Peugeot (+10.9%) and Abarth (+10.9%) all sporting double-digit gains in the Top 30 while among smaller brands (<0.1% share), McLaren (+314.3%), Ferrari (+259.4%), Lamborghini (+75.7%), Rolls Royce (+70.6%) and Aston Martin (+70%) impress.

The Toyota Sienta (+85.4%) tops the regular cars charts for the 2nd straight month – and ever, distancing the Nissan Note (-3%) and Toyota Prius (+16.7%) which remains #1 YTD. The Toyota Corolla (+26.5%) leaps back up 8 spots on August to #4, its highest ranking at home in over a year (since August 2018), while Toyota places 5 nameplates in the Top 6 with the Voxy (+41.6%) and Aqua (-2.8%) in tow. The Lexus NX300 (+218%), Honda Shuttle (+138%), Toyota Land Cruiser W (+76.7%), Hiace (+65.7%), Subaru WRX (+59.7%), Mitsubishi Delica D5 (+52.4%) and Toyota Alphard (+43.3%) also impress with spectacular gains in the remainder of the Top 50. The new Mazda3 continues to progress: up 5 spots on last month to a record #11, it is joined by the new Mazda2 landing directly at #19 while the Nissan Skyline is up 6-fold year-on-year to score its first ever Top 50 finish at #48.

Once again the best-selling kei cars generate much higher volumes than regular cars, with the September Top 4 all outselling the Toyota Sienta: the Honda N-BOX (+26.4%), Daihatsu Tanto (+84.3%), Nissan Dayz (+18.4%) and Suzuki Spacia (+14.2%) all outpace the market as does the Daihatsu Move (+21%) at #5. The Subaru Chiffon (+210%), Daihatsu Copen (+162.9%), Suzuki Jimny (+49.9%) and Daihatsu Cast (+31%) also impress. Below the Mini lineup (+0.1%) and VW Golf (+14.7%), the Q3 foreign models ranking gets a good shake: the Mercedes A-Class is up to #3, the B-Class cracks the Quarterly Top 20 for the first time directly at #5 as do the Mercedes G-Class (#15) and Jeep Renegade (#18) while the Jeep Wrangler (#11) and BMW X3 (#13) are also on the up.

Previous month: Japan August 2019: Kei cars (+11.5%) lift market to largest gain this year (+6.7%), first win for the Toyota Sienta

One year ago: Japan September 2018: Suzuki (+7.5%), Jaguar (+68.5%) shine

Full September 2019 Top 55 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars, Top 33 All kei cars and Q3 2019 Top 20 foreign models below.