Japan's imported auto sales hit 21-year low

• Source: Xinhua
• [08:51 January 11 2010]
• Comments

The number of vehicles produced by foreign manufacturers newly registered in Japan in December 2009, increased by 7.5 percent from a year earlier to 18,762 units, according to a report released last Friday by the Japanese Association of International Automobiles (JAIA).

However sales of imported vehicles in Japan for the year plummeted 18.6 percent from the previous year, marking a 21-year low of 178,527 units, as consumer demand slumped amid economic distress, analysts indicated.

German automaker Volkswagen remained the top-selling imported vehicle brand in Japan last year, with the Golf and the Polo models being its two top sellers.

Volkswagen captured 21.24 percent of Japan's imported vehicle market with sales totaling 37,928 units, down 16.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the report.

In December, new imported vehicle sales increased 6.1 percent from a year earlier to 20,074 units, marking a rise for the second consecutive month. Non-Japanese brand vehicles increased 7.5 percent to 18,762 units, while domestic-brand vehicles decreased 10.6 percent to 1,312 units.

In the October-December period of 2009 Volkswagen Golf was the top seller of imported cars in Japan, notching sales of 4,801 units. BMW's 3 series held the second spot with 4,369 units sold and Volkswagen's Polo came in third with sales of 3,015 units, according to JAIA.

For the whole of 2009 the top-two sellers remained the same, with Volkswagen pushing 21,413 units of its Golf model and BMW's 3Series selling 14,042 units. The third spot for the year, however, also went to BMW, with sales of their MINI totaling 11,002 for the year, JAIA indicated.