New vehicle sales in Japan in fiscal 2008 are expected to fall 0.6% from the previous year to a 26-year low of 5.3m units due to high fuel prices and sluggish income growth, an industry body has said.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The moderate fall will follow an estimated 5.0% decline in fiscal 2007, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association told Kyodo News.
Fiscal 2008 sales of minivehicles with engines sized 660 cc or below are estimated to fall 0.7% to 1.9m units while sales of larger vehicles are forecast to drop 0.5% to 3.4m units, the report said.
Passenger car sales in fiscal 2008 starting April are projected to rise by just 0.4% with minicar sales increasing 1.3% despite a 0.1% drop in sales of larger cars.
Truck sales are expected to decrease 5.3% to 866,000 units and bus sales to fall 1.9% to 15,100 units, Kyodo News added.
