Tokyo: New vehicle sales in Japan scored the first year-on-year rise in 13 months in August, backed by recent tax breaks and subsidies for purchases of eco-friendly vehicles, an industry body has said.
The sales in the month increased 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 198,265 units, excluding minivehicles with engine displacements of up to 660 cc, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.
Sales of new passenger cars increased 8.2 percent to 179,766 units, while truck sales plunged 33.8 percent to 17,673 units. Bus sales fell 22.5 percent to 826 units.
Among brands, Lexus of Toyota Motor Corp. posted the largest percentage sales growth of 46.9 percent to 1,745 units, followed by a 22.8 percent rise to 4,519 units for Mitsubishi, a 13.4 percent increase to 31,115 units for Honda, and a 9.0 percent expansion to 90,802 units for Toyota, excluding the Lexus brand.
The strong growth for Lexus came on robust sales of the HS250h gasoline-electric hybrid car launched in July. Among Toyota brand vehicles, the new Prius hybrid was also popular.
Honda sales increased for the fifth straight month on
the strength of the popular Insight hybrid. Mitsubishi posted
a year-on-year sales rise for the first time in 19 months,
supported by brisk sales of the Colt subcompact.
In contrast, new vehicle sales declined 1.4 percent to
31,015 units for Nissan, which has no hybrid models applicable
for the tax breaks or subsidies. Mazda sales dropped 2.5 percent to 13,543 units, although passenger car sales increased.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 02, 2009, 09:29