Japan’s new vehicle sales, including mini-vehicles, fell 6.9% from a year earlier to 367,648 units in May.
The decline follows April’s first year-on-year gain in eight months.
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Kyodo reported that the increase in April was temporary as overall sales have been affected by the end in September of the government’s subsidy program for the purchase of environmentally friendly cars.
New vehicle sales excluding mini-vehicles fell 7.3 percent from a year earlier to 219,099 units, down for the first time in two months, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.
Passenger car sales fell 8.9% to 191,976 units and truck sales gained 6.8 percent to 26,490 units.
Sales of new mini-vehicles with engine displacement of up to 660 cc in the month decreased 6.3% to 148,549 units according to the Japan Mini Vehicles Association.
“It is highly likely that the sales will increase in June,” an official of the association told Kyodo. He added that sales of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. fell sharply as many customers waited for the launch in June of a jointly developed mini-car model.
