Japan’s new vehicle market expanded by 4% year-on-year to 324,064 units in May 2025 from 312,406 units in the same month last year, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
The country’s vehicle market last month continued to recover from weak year-earlier levels, when Daihatsu Motor – Toyota Motor’s small car subsidiary – was forced to halt production of a number of key models following its widely covered safety test rigging scandal. This also affected other affiliated brands, including Mazda and Subaru.
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In the first five months of 2025, the market expanded by 11% to 1,952,294 units after falling by 15% to 1,753,891 in the same period last year, with sales of passenger cars rising by 12% to 1,660,261 units and truck sales increasing by 10% to 287,068 units, while sales of medium and large buses and coaches surged by 15% to 4,965 units.
Toyota’s domestic sales rose by 16% to 604,919 units year-to-date, while Daihatsu’s sales surged by 150% to 211,866 units from very depressed year-earlier levels, and Mazda’s volumes rebounded by 18% to 69,865 units. Brands not affected by last year’s production stoppages did not perform as well in this period, including Suzuki which saw its sales fall slightly to 315,124 units, while Honda’s sales were down by 4% to 270,440 units, and Nissan’s sales declined by over 11% to 185,449 units.
Overseas brands account for just 4% of total vehicle sales in Japan year-to-date, led by German automakers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW-Mini, Audi and Volkswagen.
