Weak kei cars keep dragging down Japanese new car sales in August

Japan August 2015 - Picture courtesy Bertel Schmitt

Japan’s new car sales continued to be feeble in August due to continued weak registrations of mini vehicles, although the drop was less pronounced than in July. Regular cars were up slightly. Imports to the allegedly closed market continue to look healthy.

Registrations of mini vehicles were down 8.8 percent in August, as a run-up in sales before the tax increase in April is being digested. Regular vehicles were up 2.3 percent for a bottom-line drop of 1.9 percent, as data released by industry associations show. Shrugging off a weaker yen, Japanese continue to buy imported cars, up 3.8 percent. More than 10 percent of regular cars registered in August were imports.

Full tables can be found here.

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