Japan February 2023: Toyota (+48%), Lexus (+234.9%) outstanding in market up 20.3%

Lexus sales more than triple year-on-year in February.

New vehicle sales in Japan soar 20.3% year-on-year in February to 426,726 units, however keep in mind February 2022 was off -18% on the year prior. The year-to-date volume is now up 18.2% to 809,064. Toyota (+48%) posts a whopping uptick to a tremendous 34.3% share, its highest since July 2021 (35.8%). It is now up to almost exactly one third of the entire market year-to-date (33.4%). The Top 6 brands are unchanged on January and Full Year 2022 with Suzuki at +22% to 13.5% share but all the rest lose share year-on-year as they trail the market. Daihatsu (+13.6%) fares the best, followed by Nissan (+2.3%) but Honda (-6%) and Mazda (-6.9%) can’t take advantage of the ambient growth and endure year-on-year sales declines. Lexus (+234.9%) enjoys a surreal gain and climbs to #7 vs. #9 traditionally. Isuzu (+77.7%) is also extremely strong but stays at #10. Among foreigners and in order of sales, BMW (+30.4%), Volvo (+39.8%), Citroen (+33.8%) and DS (+117.3%) stand out.

In the regular car ranking, Toyota has 9 models in the Top 10. The Yaris/Coss (+51.3%) outpaces the market to hold onto the top spot above the Toyota Corolla/Cross (+16.6%) which was #1 a year ago. The Toyota Sienta (+230.9%) follows with a new generation-fuelled performance. The Nissan Note (+9.4%) is the only non-Toyota in the Top 10 but is weak as is the Toyota Roomy (-23%) just below. All remaining models in the Top 10 beat the market: the Toyota Voxy (+311.1%), Noah (+282.5%), Harrier (+233.6%), Prius (+130.9%, now with a new generation) and to a lesser extent Aqua (+29.7%) are all in great shape. Further down and justifying the brand’s surge this month, notice the Lexus NX350H up 663.7% year-on-year and the NX250 up 3397%.

Looking at kei cars, the Honda N-BOX (-1.6%) remains the best-selling vehicle outright in the country despite a year-on-year drop. It distances the Daihatsu Tanto (+42.6%), Move (+91.7%), Suzuki Spacia (+40.6%) and Nissan Roox (+31.7%) all outpacing the market. The Nissan Sakura is down one spot on January to #12 while the Mitsubishi eK Cross EV remains at #20.

Previous month: Japan January 2023: Toyota up to 32.4% share in very dynamic market (+16%)

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

Full February 2023 Top 50 all brands, Top 50 regular models and Top 35 all kei cars below.