Japan April 2026: Toyota hits highest share in at least 12 years, Land Cruiser up to record #7

The Toyota Land Cruiser is up to a record 7th place in April.

New vehicle sales in Japan shoot up 9.1% year-on-year in April to 373,952 units, meaning the year-to-date tally is now stable at -0.1% to 1,627,305. Brand leader Toyota (+25.2%) delivers an outstanding month, vastly outpacing its home market to reach 37.7% share, 10 percentage points above its March level and simply its highest share since we started following Japanese brands data in January 2014. Previous best was 36.5% in pandemic-disrupted May 2020. Illustrating the weight of Toyota in total Japanese sales, the next 5 brands all trail the market. Nissan (+2.4%) and Honda (+1.5%) are in positive whereas Daihatsu (-2.4%), Suzuki (-2.9%) and Mazda (-3.4%) drop slightly. In contrast Subaru (+28.8%), Lexus (+10.5%) and Mitsubishi (+10%) all shine in the remainder of the Top 10. As for foreign brands, Mercedes (-3.6%) falls to #13, with BMW (-18.9%) and Volkswagen (-12%) also in trouble. Renault (+129.9%), Ferrari (+93.2%), Porsche (+52.5%), BYD (+29.5%) and Land Rover (+24.2%) stand out.

Looking at the regular cars ranking, Toyota spectacularly monopolises the Top 9. The Yaris+Yaris Cross (-13.8%) holds onto the top spot but the “true” leader is the Toyota Roomy up 108.4 year-on-year and 13 spots on March to #2, reaching its highest volume since October 2024. The Toyota Land Cruiser (+175.9%) reaches a record 7th place (previous best #9 in July 2024). Note the 70, 250 and 300 series are included. Meanwhile the Raize (+91.6%), Voxy (+55%), Alphard (+30.4%), Noah (+28%) and Sienta (+22.6%) all beat the market, with the latter ascending to #2 year-to-date. The Corolla+Corolla Cross (-22.8%) freefalls to #6. Other great performers below include the Toyota bZ4X (+3560.8%), Nissan Leaf (+1061.5%), Toyota Hiace (+198.1%), Suzuki Xbee (+186.8%) and Lexus RX350 (+171.7%).

Over in the kei cars charts, the Suzuki Spacia (+1.6%) is the best-seller for the first time since May 2024. It topples the Honda N-BOX (-14.9%), with the latter remaining #1 year-to-date by almost 11,000 units. The Daihatsu Tanto (-4.6%) overtakes the Move (+25%) to their place with the Toyota Copen GR Sport (+231.1%), Daihatsu Copen (+77.2%) and Nissan Roox (+66.1%) posting the biggest YoY gains below.

Previous month: Japan March 2026: Toyota RAV4, bZ4X, Nissan Leaf shine

One year ago: Japan April 2025: Toyota places 11 models in Top 12 regular car charts

Full April 2026 Top 48 All brands, Top 50 regular cars and Top 31 All kei cars below.