Japan January 2021: Toyota (+13.8%), Lexus (+13.6%) shine in market up 6.8%

Toyota Alphard sales are up 94.5% year-on-year in January.

The Japanese new vehicle market is up +6.8% year-on-year in January to  384.442 units. Brand leader Toyota (+13.8%) exactly doubles the market growth rate to score a solid 31.7% share, in line with the 31.6% it held over the FY2020. Suzuki (+9.3%) also outpaces its home market to 14.5% vs. 13.7% in FY2020, whereas Daihatsu (+5.4%), Honda (+1.8%), Nissan (+2.3%) and Mazda (+1.6%) are more muted but still in positive. Lexus (+13.6%) and Subaru (+8.6%) are also solid in the remainder of the Top 10 but Mitsubishi (-0.3%) is the only Top 10 brand in negative. Further down, Bentley (+70.4%), Maserati (+50%), Citroen (+47.7%), Fiat (+44.6%), Peugeot (+41.5%), Porsche (+34.1%), Abarth (+31.2%), Mini (+19.5%), Alfa Romeo (+19.2%) and BMW (+17.9%) stand out with fantastic gains.

In the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Yaris easily retains the top spot with over 18.500 units including the Yaris Cross model. Leader a year ago, the Toyota Raize (-31.7%) ends its honeymoon launch period and drops to #7 overall for the month. In contrast the rest of the Top 4 all post gigantic gains due to a new generation or refreshed model: the Toyota Roomy is up 76.6% to #2, the Toyota Alphard up 94.5% to #3 and the Toyota Harrier up 425% to #4. The Honda Fit (+239.4%) and Toyota Voxy (+20%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 10. Note Toyota places 8 models in the January Top 9 regular cars. Among other recent launches (<12 months), the Nissan Kicks is up 5 spots on December to #15 and the Mazda MX-30 is up 3 to #47. Other great gainers include the Subaru Levorg (+560.8%), Honda Civic (+184.5%), Toyota Land Cruiser (+113.6%), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (+43.6%), Toyota Crown (+21.7%) and Mazda3 (+20.4%).

The Top 7 best-selling kei cars are unchanged on December, with the Honda N-BOX (-13.6%), Suzuki Spacia (+4.7%) and Daihatsu Tanto (-4.4%) in the lead, the new Nissan Roox at #5 and the Suzuki Hustler (+38.5%) posting the largest year-on-year gain of the lot. Below, the Honda N-ONE (+370.8%), Suzuki Jimny (+51.9%), Honda N-WGN (+28.2%) and Suzuki Wagon R (+14.4%) also post large upticks.

Previous post: Japan Full Year 2020: Toyota holds best among top brands, Yaris and Raize top market down -11.5%

One year ago: Japan January 2020: Toyota Raize #1, Subaru (+39.9%) only Top 12 brand in positive in 4th straight double-digit market fall (-11.7%)

Full January 2021 Top 52 All brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top 34 All kei cars below.