Japan's new vehicle sales plunge 26.7% in Oct.

• Source: Xinhua
• [16:45 November 01 2010]
• Comments

Japanese new vehicle sales plunged 26. 7 percent in October from a year earlier as government subsidies for eco-friendly cars expired, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA) said in a report on Monday.

According to the industry body, 193,258 units were sold in October, marking a second successive month of decline following a 4.1 percent retraction in September.

Year-on-year, auto sales in October fell from the 263,506 units registered in the same month the previous year.

Passenger car sales fell 28.8 percent from a year earlier to 171,641 units, compared with a 5.4 percent increase in September and truck sales dipped 3.3 percent to 20,968 units.

Sales of trucks fell for the first time on year in nine months in October, following a 12.0 percent rise in September, JADA said.

Meanwhile, sales of buses plunged 25.4 percent to 649 units, marking the second straight year-on-year drop following 27.5 percent gain in the previous month.

In August the association's index spiked to a 46.7 percent increase in auto sales as customers were prompted to take advantage of the government's subsidies, including lower tax rates, for buying and owning low-emission vehicles.

Separately, the Japan Mini Vehicle Association reported that domestic sales of new mini vehicles, with an engine displacement of less than 660cc, fell 16.2 percent in October from a year earlier to 111,070 units, marking the first drop in 10 months following 4.6 percent rise in September.