Japan November 2022: Daihatsu (+21.4%), Mitsubishi (+44.5%), Mercedes (+75.8%) shine, Honda ZR-V lands

The Honda ZR-V lands at #21 in the regular cars ranking.

New vehicle sales in Japan markedly slow down their growth in November to +7% year-on-year and 377,079 units. The year-to-date tally remains in negative at -6.2% to 3,856,956. Market leader Toyota (-5.1%) goes agains the market with the only year-on-year drop in the Top 12 but remains ultra dominant  at 28.5% share. Daihatsu (+21.4%) is once again in excellent shape, staying at #2 with 16% share vs. 13.6% year-to-date where it is now #3. Suzuki (+15.7%) is also solid at #3 ahead of Honda (+8.9%) just outpacing the market and Nissan (+2.2%) underperforming slightly. In fact, the Top 10 brands are unchanged on October with Mazda (+10.8%), Subaru (+5.8%) and an impressive Mitsubishi (+44.5%) in tow while Mercedes (+75.8%) manages the biggest gain in the Top 20 to stay at #9 and Isuzu (+16.1%) rounds out the Top 10.

In the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Yaris/Cross (+8.4%) evolves roughly like the market to easily hold onto the top spot, and is followed this month by the Nissan Note (+16.6%). The Toyota Corolla/Cross (-25.3%), leader a year ago, is in difficulty. Boosted by the new generation, the Toyota Sienta (+167%) delivers a fantastic year-on-year uptick but retrogrades two spots on last month to #4. It climbs to 8th place in the YTD charts. The Toyota Aqua (+21.5%) rallies back up four ranks on October to #5 while all other Top 10 models underperform, with the Honda Vezel (+5.1%) the only one up and the Toyota Roomy (-28%) the hardest hit. The Honda StepWGN (+82.7%) ends the month a mere 31 sales off a Top 10 finish, with the Toyota Noah (+30.7%) and Suzuki Solio (+50.3%) also impressive near the top. The Honda ZR-V makes its debut in the Japanese Top 50 directly at #21.

Daihatsu Move sales are up 77.9% year-on-year.

Looking at kei cars, the Honda N-BOX (+12.9%) maintains a safe margin over its competitors and snap the crown of the best-selling vehicle in the country for the month. The Daihatsu Tanto (+38.6%) soars and also outsells the Toyota Yaris/Cross while the Daihatsu Move (+77.9%) posts another outstanding result. The Suzuki Spacia (-4.6%) and Suzuki Wagon R (+8.2%) follow like in October. Excellent performances by the Suzuki Hustler (+42.6%) and Suzuki Alto (+42%) in the remainder of the Top 10. The Nissan Sakura EV climbs back up three spots on October to #12 with just under 3,500 sales.

Previous month: Japan October 2022: Daihatsu surges (+87.8%), Toyota Sienta #2, market up 28.6%

One year ago: Japan November 2021: Toyota Corolla takes charge, market narrows fall to -14.4%

Full November 2022 Top 50 all brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top 35 all kei cars below.