— Japan Mar New Vehicle Sales +78.2% Y/Y Vs Feb +31.9%
— Japan Mar New Mini-Vehicle Sales +60.5% Y/Y Vs Jan +25.4%
TOKYO (MNI) – New vehicle sales in Japan surged to a six-year high
in March, posting the seventh straight year-on-year rise, thanks largely
to government subsidies, data released by the Japan Automobile Dealers
Association on Monday showed.
New vehicle sales jumped 78.2% in March from a year earlier to
497,959 units, the highest sales volume since March 2006, when sales
totaled 558,221 units.
The March reading followed rises of 31.9% in February, 40.7% in
January and 23.5% in December. Sales marked the first year-over-year
gain in 13 months last September.
In December the government revived subsidies for buying
low-emission vehicles. The program was first finished in September 2010,
which caused a year-long stagnation of domestic vehicle sales.
For the whole of fiscal 2011, new vehicle sales rose 3.1% to 3.06
million units, the first rise in two years, following a 6.6% drop in the
previous year.
Separately, the Japan Mini Vehicle Association reported that
domestic sales of new small vehicles (with engine displacement of less
than 660 cc) rose 60.5% y/y to 253,929 in March, the sixth straight
year-on-year rise, following a 25.4% gain in February.
In fiscal 2011, sales of new mini-vehicles rose 3.7% to 1.69
million, the first rise in five years.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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