Japanese vehicle market up 13% in June

Japan's new vehicle market continued to strengthen in June, with sales rising by 13.4% to 477,470 units from 420,911 sales a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).

In the first half of the year the market expanded by 9.2% to 2,782,542 units compared with 2,547,349 units in the same period of last year, driven by rebounding passenger vehicle sales.

Passenger vehicle sales increased by 10.0% to 2,346,634 units in the six-month period, driven by particularly strong demand for compact and sub-compact models. Truck sales increased by 5.1% to 427,516 units, while bus sales were 5.6% higher at 8,392 units after exceptionally strong growth last year.

Toyota enjoyed an 11.4% sales rise to 843,632 units in the six-month period, with Honda following in second place with a 1.7% increase to 376,639 units. Suzuki's sales amounted to 358,148 units (+8.5%); Nissan 343,951 units (+22.9%); Daihatsu 329,508 units (+7.6); and Mazda 111,551 units (+3.2%).