Japan’s new vehicle market declined by 2.3% year-on-year to 367,748 units in January 2026, following a 12% rise to 376,255 in the same month last year, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Sales of passenger vehicles declined by 6.2% to 307,838 units last month, with sales of larger (standard) models dropping by 12% to 130,318 units, while sales of trucks rose by 25% to 59,214 units, driven by a 50% surge in sales of light trucks to 17,571 units and a 21% rise in mini-truck sales to 31,125 units. Sales of medium and large buses and coaches were unchanged at 696 units.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Toyota led the market lower in January with a 3.5% decline to 116,007 units, reflecting a 10% fall in passenger vehicle sales which was partly offset by a sharp rise in truck and bus sales. Its Daihatsu subsidiary continued to recover from the previous year’s production stoppages, with sales rising by almost 11% to 45,251 units – driven by a sharp rise in mini-truck sales. Suzuki’s sales were down slightly to 60,863 units, while Honda’s sales fell by less than 2% to 49,411 units. Nissan continued to underperform, with sales falling by over 11% to 35,296 units.
Overseas brands accounted for less than 4% of total vehicle sales in Japan last month, led by German automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW-Mini, Audi, and Volkswagen.
Japan’s market remains sluggish, with Japanese consumers coming under increased pressure from rising interest rates. The Bank of Japan raised its key policy rate again in December to a decades-high of 0.75%, following a long period of negative interest rates. GlobalData is forecasting a 4.6% rise in light vehicle sales to 4.74 million units in the country in 2026, followed by a 1% decline to 4.69 million in 2027.
