Japanese domestic sales of new motor vehicles, excluding minivehicles, dropped 8.2% in November from a year before to 305,569 units, a 30-year low for the month and the fifth straight monthly decline, an industry body said on Thursday.
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According to Kyodo News, The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said it is feared that annual sales for 2005 may fall below the 3.96 million units sold in 2004.
By type, sales of passenger cars with engine displacements of over 2000 cc lost 13.5% to 98,267 units, the association said. Additionally, sales of smaller cars with engines of over 600 cc to 2000 cc fell 7.2% to 160,196 units.
Sales of passenger cars overall, excluding minivehicles, were down 9.7% to 258,463 units.
Association officials told Kyodo News that consumers tend to prefer fuel-efficient minivehicles to larger cars amid high petrol prices. Minivehicles are also competitive with larger cars in various functions, they said.
Sales of trucks rose 0.9% to 45,945 units and those of buses soared 23.8% to 1,161 units.
By automaker, according to Kyodo News, Nissan Motor suffered the most in November with a 20.3% plunge in sales to 48,926 units partly because the latest sales campaign ended in September.
In particular, the automaker suffered a 52.2% plunge in sales of passenger cars with engine displacements of over 2000 cc to 9.516 units.
Domestic sales of new minivehicles rose 3.0% in November to 157,737 units for the eighth consecutive month of increase, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said.
Annual sales of minivehicles this year are certain to break the record high 1.89 million units in 2004, association officials told Kyodo News.
