Japan Full Year 2021: Toyota Yaris and Roomy top market down -3.3%

The Toyota Roomy is up to 2nd place in the regular cars ranking in 2021.

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The Japanese new vehicle market edges down -3.3% year-on-year in 2021 to 4,438,440 registrations. Toyota (-2.1%) resists better than its home market to improve its share to a round 32%. The Top 12 is unchanged on 2020 and the next 6 carmakers all lose more ground than the market: Suzuki (-3.6%) sees its share unchanged at 13.7% ahead of Honda (-6.4%) at 13%, Daihatsu (-3.4%) at 12.9%, Nissan (-3.6%) at 10.2%, Mazda (-11.2%) in trouble at 3.5% and Subaru (-4%) at 2.3%. Mitsubishi (+10.5%) defies the negative market but remains in 8th place above Isuzu (-5.5%) and Hino (-0.1%). Mercedes (-9.3%) remains the most popular foreign brand despite a significant loss, distancing BMW (+0.5%) up two spots to #13 and Volkswagen (-3.7%) staying at #14. Audi (+1%), Mini (-9.8%), Volvo (+6.1%) and Jeep (+5.2%) follow. Below, Alfa Romeo (+39.8%), Renault (+28.5%), Land Rover (+20.8%), Maserati (+20.8%), Citroen (+17.2%), Ferrari (+14%) and Peugeot (+12.3%) all impress with stellar gains.

In the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Yaris (+40.3%) cements its lead as its volume includes Yaris Cross figures. The Toyota Roomy (+54.5%) takes advantage of the discontinuation of its twin the Tank to leap up four spots to #2 overall while the Toyota Corolla (-6.3%) hasn’t yet fully integrated the influx of sales generated by the Corolla Cross and remains in third place. The Toyota Alphard (+4.7%) edges up one rank to #4 with the Nissan Note (+24.9%) rounding out the Top 5. Other impressive gainers in the Top 10 are the Toyota Harrier (+12.9%) and Aqua (+21.7%) benefitting from new generations. Below, notice the Honda Vezel (+59.9%), Nissan Kicks (+91.2%), Toyota Land Cruiser W (+27.3%) and Subaru Levorg (+110%) delivering stellar gains. New entrants in the Top 50 are the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (+65.3%), Nissan March (+52.7%) and Honda Civic (+17.3%).

The VW T-Cross is up to #2 foreigner in 2021.

Over in the kei cars charts, the Honda N-BOX (-3.6%) remains the most popular with just under 190,000 sales, that’s well below the Toyota Yaris across in the regular cars, which wasn’t the case in 2020. The Suzuki Spacia (-7.8%), Daihatsu Tanto (-9.8%) and Daihatsu Move (-8%) follow like last year but all lose more ground than the market. The Nissan Roox (+16.4%) steps up three spots to #5 but had an off month in December when it ranked #25. The Daihatsu Taft (+45%) spends its first Full Year in market inside the Top 10 while the Suzuki Hustler (+3%) stays at #6 and the Suzuki Wagon R (+4.4%) is up three ranks to #7. 

Looking at foreign models, the Mini lineup (-9.8%) is by far the most successful, selling almost double the volume of the #2, the VW T-Cross (+2.6%) up two spots on last year. The BMW 3 Series (+1.9%) and Volvo 60-Series (+12.7%) are also up two ranks year-on-year to land at #3 and #4 respectively. Meanwhile the VW Golf (-25.7%) tumbles down two spots to #5. The VW T-Roc breaks into the Top 20 to land directly in 6th place, while the Jeep Wrangler (+20.4%) is up three ranks to #8 and the Mercedes A-Class sinks 8 spots to #10. Other new entrants in the Top 20 are the Mercedes GLB at #11, the Mercedes S-Class at #13, the Audi Q3 at #18 and the Mercedes GLA at #20. 

Previous month: Japan November 2021: Toyota Corolla takes charge, market narrows fall to -14.4%

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

Two years ago: Japan 2019: Toyota Prius reclaims regular car lead but Corolla and Raize end on a high in market down -1.5%

Full December 2021 Top 53 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars, Top 34 kei cars and Q4 2021 Top 20 foreigners below.

Full Year 2021 Top 60 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars, Top 35 kei cars and Top 20 foreign cars vs. Full Year 2020 data below.