« ISE Gasoline Hybrid Drive Systems to Power New 35’ and 40’ Buses for San Diego MTS | Main | A380 GTL Test Flight Kicks Off Airbus Alternative Fuel Flight Test Program »
Japan New Passenger Car Sales Up 6.4% In January
1 February 2008
Sales of new passenger cars in Japan rose 6.4% from the year before to 213,857 units in January, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. Sales of cars with engine displacement of more than 2,000 cc rose 15.1% to 98,096 units, while those of smaller cars leveled off to 115,761 units.
Total new vehicle sales rose 3.7% year on year to 241,629 units. Truck sales were down 14.5% to 26,602, while bus sales rose 16.1% to 1,170 units.
Separately, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said sales of new mini vehicles with engine displacement of up to 660 cc dropped 2.4% to 134,991 units in January, the tenth straight decrease.
February 1, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22062/25698398
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Japan New Passenger Car Sales Up 6.4% In January:
Comments
Seems Japan wants bigger vehicles. Can't we blame this on the U.S. somehow?
Posted by: Sulleny | Feb 1, 2008 11:57:02 AM
Nah, I would hazard a guess that many of the Japanese consumers who fled their larger cars (over the past few years) for the smaller cars found they ended up in a car that was *too* small.
I am more surprised in the overall growth rather than the change in proportions of the sales.
Posted by: Patrick | Feb 1, 2008 12:53:36 PM
However, some small cars in Japan do well because they offer a lot of interior space despite the small size of the vehicle; the Honda Fit exemplifies this trend (if you've seen a Honda Fit/Jazz note the amazing of interior space belying the vehicle's small external size).
Posted by: Raymond | Feb 1, 2008 9:21:00 PM
