Japan Full Year 2023: Honda N-BOX and Toyota Yaris on top again, Toyota places 8 models in Top 9

Toyota Sienta sales are up 92% in 2023.

Discover close to 55 years of Japanese Historical Data here.

Japanese new vehicle sales are up a solid 13.8% year-on-year in 2023 to 4,779,086 units. Toyota (+26.5%) almost doubles the market growth rate to reach 33% share vs. 29.7% a year ago. In fact the Top 8 brands are unchanged on 2022. Suzuki (+7.9%), Daihatsu (+3.3%) Honda (+4.6%), Nissan (+6.9%), Mazda (+10.3%) and Subaru (+5.1%) all trail the market whereas Mitsubishi (+14.5%) is slightly above. Lexus (+129.4%) posts a fantastic result and climbs three spots to #9. It is worth remembering that despite this spectacular lift the brand only account for 2% of the Japanese market. Isuzu (+50.4%), Mitsubishi Fuso (+37.7%), Land Rover (+102.4%), Maserati (+39.8%) and BYD (+4774.2%) impress below.

In the regular car ranking, the Toyota Yaris (+15.3%) is back upwards to sport a 4th consecutive annual win, keep in mind Yaris Cross sales are included in the total. The Toyota Corolla (+17.7%) is also in great shape, here too including the Corolla Cross. The Toyota Sienta (+92%) almost doubles its sales year-on-year to land on the third step of the podium, knocking the Nissan Note (-6.9%) down to #4 and the Toyota Roomy (-7.7%) down to #5. Toyota places no less than 8 models inside the Top 9: the Prius (+203.4%) enjoys the benefits of its new generation to surge 14 spots on last year to #6, the Noah (+65%) is up four to #7, the Voxy (+60.4%) up five to #8 and the Aqua (+11.4%) down two to #9. The Toyota Harrier (+120%), Crown (+142.2%), Lexus NX350H (+338.3%), Mazda CX-60 (+314.6%), Lexus UX250H (+150.9%) and Lexus RX500H (+5687.5%) stand out below.

The Honda N-BOX is the best-selling vehicle in Japan overall.

As for kei cars, the Honda N-BOX (+14.4%) easily holds onto the top spot and ranks #1 kei car for the 9th year in a row (no interruption since 2015. It is also the best-selling vehicle in the country overall, beating the Toyota Yaris. The Daihatsu Tanto (+47.8%) surges ahead but stays #2 ahead of the Suzuki Spacia (+22%) and Daihatsu Move (+10.2%), ensuring the Top 4 models are unchanged on 2022. The Suzuki Hustler (+17.5%) is up two spots to #5, overtaking the Suzuki Wagon R (-12.1%) and Nissan Roox (-2.8%). 

Looking at foreign models, the Mini lineup (-7.3%) comfortably stays in pole position while the VW Golf (+16%) rallies back up to #2, overtaking the Mercedes C-Class (-34.5%). The VW T-Roc (+28.8%) scores the largest gain in the Top 8 and climbs four spots to #4. The VW T-Cross (-6%) stays in 5th place ahead of the BMW 3 Series (+18.2%) and a freefalling Volvo 60 Series (-20.8%). The Mercedes GLB (+19.9%) breaks into the Top 10 at #9 with the Audi A3 (+52.9%) soaring 7 spots to #9. The Mercedes GLC (#13), BMW X1 (#15), Mercedes GLA (#17) and Land Rover Defender 110 (#18) appear in this year’s Top 20.

Previous year: Japan 2022: Honda N-BOX and Toyota Yaris best-sellers in market off -5.6%

Two years ago: Japan 2021: Toyota Yaris and Roomy top market down -3.3%

Full December 2023 Top 55 All brands, Top 50 regular cars, Top 33 All kei cars and Q4 2023 Top 20 foreign models below.

Full Year 2023 Top 60 All brands, Top 50 regular cars, Top 35 All kei cars and Top 20 foreign models vs. Full Year 2022 figures below.