Japan's new vehicle market was slightly lower at 371,867 units in May compared with 372,576 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Despite a sharp rebound in April, sales have drifted lower in the first five months of the year, reflecting slowing economic growth. GDP expanded by 1.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018 but was down by 0.6% on the previous quarter when Japan experienced its longest period of uninterrupted economic growth since the boom years of the 1980s.
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Sales in the first five months of the year were 1.1% lower at 2,278,716 units from 2,305,072 units a year earlier, with passenger vehicle sales falling by 1.7% to 1,916,661 units while truck sales increased 1.3% to 355,683 units. Medium and heavy-duty bus sales were almost 11% lower at 6,372 units after particularly strong growth in previous years.
Toyota's sales fell by 7.4% to 636,383 units in the five-month period, while Honda saw volume rise 2.4 % to 323,118, Suzuki sold 310,711 (+3.6%), Nissan 284,323 (-2.6%), Daihatsu 281,552 (+3.8%) and Mazda 101,015 (+6.0%).
