Sales of imported motor vehicles in Japan in 2004 fell 2.1% from the previous year to 272,880 units, the first downturn in two years, an industry body said in a preliminary report.
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The total includes 243,891 foreign-brand vehicles, down 1.5%, and 28,989 Japanese vehicles manufactured overseas, down 7.1%, according to Japan Automobile Importers Association data cited by Kyodo News.
Volkswagen took the largest share of Japan’s imported car market at 20.30% with sales of 55,383 units, down 1.2% from 2003. Mercedes-Benz came second with a 16.26% share after selling 44,375 vehicles, down 3.0%, followed by BMW which had 14.19% of the market with sales of 38,715 units, up 6.4%.
In December alone, imported vehicle sales in Japan fell 13.3% from a year earlier to 27,058 units, Kyodo News said, adding that sales of foreign-brand vehicles dropped 10.7% to 25,451 units, while those of Japanese vehicles made abroad plummeted 41.0% to 1,607 units.
