Japan’s new vehicle market continued to decline in January 2022, by over 14% to 329,699 units from 384,442 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
This followed a 3% decline to 4,448,340 units in 2021 from already weak sales in 2020 during the first year of the pandemic, with an acute global shortage of semiconductors having had a significant impact on vehicle production particularly in the second half of last year. New vehicle registrations in the final quarter of 2021 fell by over 19% to 968,238 units, with sales activity also affected by a resurgence of the pandemic.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Passenger vehicle sales fell by 16% to 272,445 units in January, including a 22% drop in minicar sales to 90,519 units, while truck sales fell by 4.5% to 56,794 units. Sales of buses and coaches increased by almost 11% to 460 units, however, after four years of decline.
The continued shortage of semiconductors is a major concern for leading Japanese automakers which are projecting a strong rebound in global output and sales this year.
Toyota sales fell by over 13% to 105,595 units last month, while Honda moved into second place with just a slight increase to 47,798 units; Suzuki 44,884 units (-19.5%); Daihatsu 44,499 (-11.1%); Nissan 31,181 (-27.9%); and Mazda 12,882 (-16.5%).
Sales of imported vehicles were also down last month, by 5.5% to 15,390 units.
