Japan Car Sales - Brand / 2016

By Daljit Kalsi Monday, 17 April 2017

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Back in the 1970's Toyota and Nissan had two thirds of Japanese sales between them. Toyota was never really threatened but it was a real tussle. Today Toyota stand alone at the top, although with slightly less share than it did back then. The other car makers have caught Nissan but no one thinks of rivaling the leader anymore.

In 2016, Mitsubishi disgraced itself with fuel consumption scandal that sent sales falling. Nissan buys these cars off them was also affected by it. So Nissan did what any good Japanese corporate would do, buy the company that hurt you. VW too was affected by scandal and has lost face in Japan and possibly Audi suffered to a lesser degree. Mazda contracted after a relatively strong 2015.

Ford is in the process of leaving Japan altogether, which I find surprising. Jaguar has no such plans as it leaps ahead. Smart are doing well. I suppose a small car will always have potential for success in a crowded nation.

In the chart below, pale yellow represents a reduction in registrations, pale blue is increase but lost market share. Green is for those exceeding the market growth and finally the salmon colour for those with over 100% increase.

12	13	14	15	16	Brand	2016	%	+/-
1	1	1	1	1	Toyota	1,359,328	32.8%	7%
2	2	2	2	2	Honda	687,172	16.6%	-2%
5	4	3	3	3	Suzuki	481,405	11.6%	-5%
4	5	5	5	4	Daihatsu	446,746	10.8%	-5%
3	3	4	4	5	Nissan	433,977	10.5%	-10%
6	6	6	6	6	Mazda	178,011	4.3%	-20%
7	7	7	7	7	Subaru	141,348	3.4%	-4%
8	8	8	8	8	Mitsubishi	71,823	1.7%	-17%
11	10	10	9	9	Mercedes	67,378	1.6%	3%
10	11	12	11	10	Lexus	52,150	1.3%	8%
12	12	11	12	11	BMW	50,913	1.2%	9%
9	9	9	10	12	VW	47,233	1.1%	-14%
13	13	13	13	13	Audi	28,502	0.7%	-3%
14	14	14	14	14	MINI	24,550	0.6%	16%
15	15	15	15	15	Volvo	14,553	0.4%	8%
16	16	16	16	16	Chrysler	9,976	0.2%	27%
17	17	17	17	17	Fiat	8,574	0.2%	14%
18	18	18	19	18	Peugeot	7,403	0.2%	25%
19	19	19	18	19	Porsche	6,887	0.2%	3%
23	21	20	20	20	Renault	5,303	0.1%	4%
26	26	27	28	21	smart	4,508	0.1%	345%
25	22	22	22	22	Land Rover	3,165	0.1%	6%
27	27	28	27	23	Jaguar	2,883	0.1%	114%
22	20	21	21	24	Ford	2,143	0.1%	-56%
21	24	24	24	25	Citroën	2,009	0.0%	2%
20	23	23	23	26	Alfa Romeo	1,767	0.0%	-24%
29	29	26	25	27	Maserati	1,323	0.0%	-9%
-	-	36	29	28	DS	1,129	0.0%	22%
24	25	25	26	29	GM	1,126	0.0%	-21%
28	28	29	30	30	Ferrari	678	0.0%	-6%
31	31	31	31	31	Bentley	434	0.0%	17%
32	33	32	32	32	Lamborghini	382	0.0%	9%
35	34	34	35	33	Rolls Royce	223	0.0%	43%
30	30	30	33	34	Lotus	197	0.0%	-27%
33	32	33	34	35	Aston Martin	186	0.0%	13%
38	35	35	36	36	Mclaren	179	0.0%	99%
36	37	37	37	37	MG Rover	55	0.0%	2%
34	36	38	38	38	Lancia	34	0.0%	3%
					Others	806	0.0%
					Total	4,146,459		-2%

Picture source: Toyota.
Data source: JAMA, JAIA.
Text source: RayCee.