The Japan Automobile Importers Association says that imported car sales for February totalled 21,054 vehicles, down 1.1 percent on the previous month, due mainly to sharp decreases in imports by Japanese carmakers.
Imported cars made by foreign manufacturers accounted for 19,824 vehicles, up 0.2 percent, and those by Japanese makers accounted for 1,230, down 17.7 percent.
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Volkswagen remained the top importer with 5,645 vehicles sold (up 21.2 percent) followed by Mercedes-Benz with 3,737, up 8.7 percent.
In contrast, BMW sold only 2,411, down 7.6 percent, despite reducing its prices, and Audi’s sales also dropped sharply – by 30.9 percent to 403.
Renault, backed by majority shareholder Nissan, doubled sales to 247.
Hyundai, only recently launched in Japan, could do no better than 39 vehicles due in part to the slow expansion of its dealer network.
JAIA expects that falling share prices will affect sales of luxury cars, which have been at a relatively high level for the last few months.
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