Japan In February 2010: New Car Sales Up 35.1 Percent. Toyota Up 47.9 Percent

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Japanese sales of new cars and trucks continue their solid comeback in February. Japan has filed away carmageddon. Japan is utterly unimpressed by the Toyota troubles. Japan has not been spared Toyota recalls. The hearings and public apologies have received wide coverage in Japan. And what is the Japanese reaction? A plus 47.9 percent vote of confidence. With the currently very tight Japanese wallets. There is a long waiting list for the Prius, Toyota’s best selling car. [Editor’s note: Japan is currently in the throes of its own Cash-for-Clunker prgram]

Also interesting: Sales of minivehicles, formerly feted as the future, are barely holding their own, whereas sales of “real” cars continue their double digit climb. Let’s look at the numbers:

Sales of new cars and trucks rose 35.1 percent year on year to 294,887 units in February, marking the seventh straight month of increase, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association report via The Nikkei [sub]. Passenger car sales went up 39.2 percent, sales of trucks increased 2.4 percent to 7,538 units.

Toyota (ex Daihatsu, Hino and Lexus): 146,145 units sold, up 47.9 percent.


Nissan: 47,948 units sold, up 17.8 percent.


Honda: 41,009 units sold, up 36.2 percent.


Mazda: 16,252 units sold, up 43.7 percent.


Mitsubishi Motors: 6,000 units sold, up 54.6 percent.

Minivehicles, that Japanese phenomenon of pintsized (under 660cc) “cars” are languishing. Sales of minivehicles rose a mere 0.6 percent year on year to 163,341 units in February. That was the second month of pintsized increases. Last month, the kawaii kei kars had recorded their first rise in 15 months with 0.7 percent growth. Numbers are reported by the Japan Mini Vehicles Association via The Nikkei [sub].

Daihatsu: 58,486 units sold, up 2.8 percent.


Suzuki: 51,624 units sold, down 0.2 percent.


Nissan: 15,744 units sold, up 5.7 percent.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Omoikane Omoikane on Mar 01, 2010

    Wow...Toyota's numbers better than pretty much everybody else’s! I expect Government Motors/UAW shills to immediately start complaining about Bertel's reporting and about incentives (conveniently forgetting they apply to everybody). The big problem these crooks have- other than having their hand deep in the taxpayers pocket- is that the Toyota smear job only works here in the US.

    • Mikey Mikey on Mar 01, 2010

      "the Toyota smear job only works here in the US".....Yes,and quite well,I might add.

  • BDB BDB on Mar 01, 2010

    I wonder what their Chinese sales are like last month?

    • See 3 previous
    • Cammy Corrigan Cammy Corrigan on Mar 01, 2010

      I do that, too! My reason for doing is to give my foot a rest, especially, if I know that the traffic lights will be a long time. I also heard that it saves a little fuel but I can't confirm the veracity of that.

  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
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