New car sales in Japan reached 328,470 units in August, down 3.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), according to foreign media reports.
Japan’s auto market is struggling to recover from a safety test rigging scandal late last year, when Daihatsu was ordered to shut down production for several months. Although Daihatsu was allowed to resume full production in May, its operations have yet to fully normalize.
In June, Toyota was banned from delivering three models, the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Yaris Cross, after Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism uncovered new safety-testing irregularities. however, the ban was lifted in July and production resumed in the first week of September after the safety of the vehicles was confirmed.
The latest macro data showed Japan’s economy rebounded 3.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter after contracting 2.3 percent in the first quarter, driven by a recovery in private consumption such as consumer spending and business activity.
Cumulative new car sales in Japan slipped nearly 10% to 2,861,135 units from January through August. Of these, Japanese passenger car sales fell 9% to 2,410,249 units and truck sales dropped 16% to 443,893 units, but sales of medium and large buses and coaches rose 34% to 6,993 units.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s cumulative sales in Japan fell 19 percent to 871,712 units, Daihatsu’s sales were down 48 percent to 199,623 units, and Mazda’s sales were down 29 percent to 90,068 units.
Over the same period, Suzuki’s cumulative sales in Japan rose 12 percent to 483,302 units; Honda’s sales rose 21 percent to 447,440 units; and Nissan’s sales fell just 1 percent to 321,218 units.