Japan February 2022: Honda (-2.1%), Mazda (+2.7%) resist, Toyota Corolla #1 in market off -18%

Mazda is the only carmaker to improve sales year-on-year in the Top 13.

New vehicle sales in Japan sink -18% year-on-year in February to just 354,668 units, leading to a year-to-date volume off -16.2% to 684,367. Brand leader Toyota (-25.5%) falls faster than the market and goes from 32% share in January to 27.9% this month. Honda (-2.1%) resists very well, improves its share to 15% and remains in 2nd place vs. #3 over the Full Year 2021. Daihatsu (-13.7%) overtakes Suzuki (-25.3%) to #3 while Nissan (-12.8%), Mazda (+2.7%), Mitsubishi (-11.2%) and Subaru (-41.4%) camp on their January ranking, with Mazda managing the only year-on-year gain in the Top 13. Mercedes (-12.1%) is the only foreigner in the Top 10 at #10. Below, Volkswagen (+2.7%), Porsche (-1.4%), Renault (-5.5%) and Fiat (+30.3%) sign solid scores while among brands below 0.2% share Chevrolet (+140.7%), Land Rover (+102.6%), Jaguar (+53.3%), Abarth (+37%) and Citroen (+10.2%) sign some of the rare upticks.

In the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Corolla (+44.1%) is up one spot on January to reclaim the pole position for the 2nd time in the past 4 months with over 12,500 sales. It distances the Toyota Roomy (-6.1%) also up one rank to #2. The big loser of the month is the Toyota Yaris (-49.3%) down from its pedestal to #3. Keep in mind Corolla sales include the Corolla Cross and Yaris sales include the Yaris Cross. Below, the Toyota Raize (+25.3%), Nissan Note (+35.1%), Honda Freed (+23%) and Toyota Aqua (+67.4%) all post fantastic and market-defying lifts. The Nissan Serena (-5.1%) and Honda Fit (-7.3%) limit their fall to single digits but the Toyota Alphard (-55%) freefalls. Outside the Top 10, the Honda Vezel (+49%) benefits from its new generation while the Mazda CX-5 (+38.9%) from its facelift. The Suzuki Swift (+16.2%), Mazda2 (+14.4%), CX-8 (+12.8%) and CX-30 (+5.7%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 30. Further down, the Mitsubishi Outlander (+733.3%), Subaru Legacy (+693.5%), Mazda Roadster (+98.2%), Toyota 86 (+189.7%), Nissan Leaf (+63%) and Honda CR-V (+51.9%) make big waves.

In the kei car charts, the Honda N-BOX (+7.4%) cements its lead, selling way over twice the amount of any other nameplate. The Daihatsu Tanto (-35.6%) remains in 2nd place vs. #3 over the Full Year 2021 while the Suzuki Spacia (-54.6%) is up two spots on last month to #3 but freefalls year-on-year. After a production interruption, the Nissan Roox (-39.3%) rallies back up 30 ranks on February to #4 but is still struggling year-on-year. In fact, there are only two additional gainers in the Top 10: the Daihatsu Mira (+6.3%) and Taft (+7.3%), and four additional lifts in the entire market: the Toyota C+POD (+1000%), Honda S660 (+158%), Mitsubishi Town Box (+30%) and Daihatsu Copen (+29.6%).

Previous month: Japan January 2022: Honda (+0.6%), Mitsubishi (+5.1%) defy market off -14.2%

One year ago: Japan February 2021: Market edging up 0.5%, Mitsubishi, Lexus in good shape

Full February 2022 Top 52 All-brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top XX kei cars below.