2013 Sales by model & engine displacement (Japanese market analysis Part 2)

 
  Toyota Aqua sold 262,000 units in 2013, and replaced the best seller, Toyota Prius, which had been in the top position for 4 years. More spacious mini-cars such as Honda N-BOX and Daihatsu Move have sold 235,000 units and 205,000 units; posting a year-over-year (y/y) increase of 24,000 units and 59,000 units respectively.
 By engine displacement, the 2013 sales for vehicles with 1500cc or less accounted for 67.3% of the entire volume. Moreover, mini vehicles under 660cc accounted for 37.0%, an increase of 2.9 percentage points y/y. Non-mini and commercial vehicles sales are declining. Conversely, minicar sales display a steady increase. Sales volume of minicars for the full-year 2013 is estimated to surpass the 20 million-unit level and cover almost half of the passenger vehicle sales. This is the report of 2013 sales in the Japanese market by model and engine displacement. Number of vehicles owned in Japan is also focused.

Related Report:
•Outlook of Japanese market in 2014 (Japanese market analysis Part 1)

 In terms of the 2013 sales volume by model, the Toyota Aqua (known as the Prius c in the U.S.) marked 262,000 units, which is a similar level as the previous year and replaced the Prius, the former best-selling model for four consecutive years. The Prius ended in second place with a decrease of 20.1% y/y at 254,000 units, followed by the Honda N-BOX with 235,000 units, an increase of 11.3% y/y. Those ranked high are fuel-efficient models like the Aqua and Prius and mini-car models such as the N-BOX, Move, and Wagon R with wider interior space and built-in automatic braking or other safety system.

Toyota Aqua (Prius C)	Honda N-BOX (Related report: "Honda (1): mini vehicles and HV sales increase in Japan")

Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association and Japan Mini Vehicles Association
Notes: Models with asterisk (*) are minicars
(1) Aqua has been  sold as "Prius c" in the U.S. since March 2012

  With regard to the 2013 sales volume by engine displacement, mini vehicles under 660cc accounted for 37.0%, an increase of 2.9 percentage points y/y.
Vehicles over 1000cc to 1500cc, including the Toyota Aqua and other popular models, had the second largest share of 28.6%, decreasing by 2.4 percentage points y/y to 1.31 million units. The 2013 sales of vehicles with 1500cc or less displacement accounted for 67.3% of the entire volume.
 Since 2011, diesel-powered models have increased their sales significantly. The Mazda CX-5 is one of the popular models in this category and the total volume of the diesel engine models increased approximately 4.5 times to 41,000 units between 2011 and 2012. This upward trend has continued also in 2013 generating an increase of 87.7% y/y to 76,000 units.

Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA), Japan Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and Japan Mini Vehicles Association

The number of vehicles owned in Japan has been increasing since the end of 2010. In 2012, the number exceeded the 2007 year-end figure by 353,000 units. As of the end of September 2013, it showed an additional increase of 36,000 units to 74.84 million units. This growth is mainly due to an increased number of minicars owned in Japan. Only minicars have increased their number for six consecutive years. At the end of September 2013, their sales increased by 3.97 million units compared with the 2007 year-end figure. As of the end of 2013, the sales volume of minicars is estimated to surpass the 20 million-unit level and cover almost half of the passenger vehicle sales.

(units)

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