Japan is a very insular country and the people have a sense of loyalty to the country. When it comes to buying cars, they buy local brands. Only with premium brands does this alter. A friend of mine with knowledge of Japan said they do not like Korean products. Hyundai entered Japan in 2001, expecting to crack the market. They sold 32 cars in 2011 and are having to walk away from Japan altogether. This collective thinking, where individuality is frowned upon, is what makes Japan unusual to the western observer.
Looking at the foreign marque market, minus any Japanese branded cars that are imported, it is small compared to the total but does involve fairly big numbers for some.
1 VW 50,600 24.8% 2 Mercedes 33,200 16.3%
3 BMW 34,300 16.8%
4 Audi 21,200 10.4%
5 MINI 14,350 7.0%
6 Volvo 11,800 5.8%
7 Peugeot 6,100 3.0%
8 Fiat 6,000 2.9%
9 Chrysler 4,700 2.3%
10 Porsche 3,650 1.8%
11 Renault 3,100 1.5%
12 Citroen 3,100 1.5%
13 Ford 3,000 1.5%
14 GM US/K 2,000 1.0%
15 Alfa Romeo 1,900 0.9%
16 smart 1,200 0.6%
17 Jaguar 1,000 0.5%
18 Land Rover 900 0.4% 19 Ferrari 386 0.2%
20 Lotus 271 0.1%
21 Maserati 249 0.1%
22 Aston Martin 140 0.1%
23 Bentley 126 0.1%
24 Lamborghini 99 0.0%
25 Lancia 98 0.0%
26 Rolls Royce 80 0.0%
27 Saab 60 0.0%
28 MG Rover 63 0.0%
29 Hyundai 32 0.0%
30 Morgan 16 0.0%
31 Maybach 9 0.0%
Others 71
Total 203,800 13.1% increase.
Some Winners: Audi(+25.6%), MINI (+26.6%), Volvo (+51.8%) and Chrysler (+40.4%).
Losers Included: Jaguar (-10.4%), Ferrari (-21.7%), Lotus (-13.1%) and Hyundai
(-72.9%).
My guess: The Japanese economy is strong and sales should reflect that in 2012.
Source: JAIA
Pics: monstersandcritics

Car Sales Japan Imports: 2011

Toyota has always been at the forefront of the Japanese market, and probably always will. However, 2011 will not go down as one to remember fondly for the car making giant. Its market share was the worst since 2001, when it had a bit of a rough time also. The 40% plus of the late 80's is now a distant memory.
Nissan had its best penetration since 2005, Lexus its best share since it became a separate brand in 2005. Daihatsu had its best year ever, Mitsubishi meanwhile has never been lower. So a year of contrasting fortunes. Below are sales for 2011, with the ranking they achieved in the market:
1 Toyota 1,038,111 -26.7%
2 Nissan 514,534 -9.1%
3 Honda 476,688 -20.6%
4 Suzuki 437,092 -9.6%
5 Daihat 429,669 -10.0%
6 Mazda 165,485 -15.4%
7 Mitsubis 109,103 -17.3%
8 Subaru 107,522 -12.4%
10 Lexus 42,365 +27.0%
Others 204,220
Total 3,524,789
16.3% decrease.

The total figure is the lowest since 1987 and well down on the peak year of 1990, which exceeded 5 million. 2011 was a tough year with the tsunami, but 2012 will hopefully be brighter.

Car Market Japan (Local Brands): 2011

We all know that the Japanese car industry did it tough in 2011. That is reflected in production the figures below, especially car making. I looked back to 1990 to see how bad it was. Both Toyota and Honda had their lowest car production in 2011 for that twenty two year period. Considering the recent slump of a few years ago - and to go under that - shows how bad it was for those two manufacturers. It was the second lowest total car production for the same period, only 2009 was less. Below are listed the number of cars made in Japan for 2011:
Rank/Brand/Production/Share/Inc-decr
1 Toyota 2,474,000 34.6% -17%
2 Nissan 1,005,000 14.0% 0%
3 Suzuki 812,000 11.3% -11%
4 Mazda 798,000 11.1% -10%
5 Honda 688,000 9.6% -27%
6 Mitsubishi 536,000 7.5% -9%
7 Daihatsu 480,000 6.7% -10%
8 Subaru 367,000 5.1% -17%
Total 7,159,000 -14%
Nissan was the only car maker to avoid a drop (they did actually drop about 3,500 units).
Commercial vehicle production in Japan fared better. Still, both Nissan and Mazda had their lowest production volumes since 1993, the last year I found data. Below are listed the number of commercial vehicles made in Japan for 2011:
Rank/Brand/Production/Share/Inc-decr
1 Toyota 286,000 23.1% -1%
2 Isuzu 202,000 16.3% -1%
3 Suzuki 138,000 11.1% -15%
4 Daihatsu 130,000 10.5% 0%
5 Hino 114,000 9.2% 15%
6 Nissan 108,000 8.7% -14%
7 Fuso 79,000 6.4% 3%
8 Mitsubishi 67,500 5.4% -9%
9 Subaru 52,000 4.2% -5%
10 UD Trucks 23,300 1.9% -23%
11 Honda 22,700 1.8% -55%
12 Mazda 15,200 1.2% -22%
Others 2,100 0.2% 41%
Total 1,240,000 -6%
The total was 8,399,000,
a decrease of 12.7%.
Data source: JAMA

Vehicle Production Japan: 2011

Japanese Brands Falling In Europe In 2012

Have a look down the list and see what you think about what sells there. Some of the names are odd that's for sure. Toyota has a massive 15 of the 40 car models, or put another way 37.5% of the top 40 list.

1	Toyota	Prius	317,675		Toyota
2	Toyota	Aqua	266,657		15 Models
3	Daihatsu	Mira	218,295		37.5%
4	Honda	Nbox	211,155
5	Honda	Fit	209,276		Nissan
6	Suzuki	Wagon R	195,701		8 Models
7	Daihatsu	Tanto	170,609		20%
8	Daihatsu	Move	146,016
9	Suzuki	Alto	112,002		Honda
10	Honda	Freed	106,316		5 Models
11	Toyota	Vitz	105,611		12.5%
12	Nissan	Serena	96,020
13	Nissan	Note	85,330		Suzuki
14	Toyota	Corolla	80,459		4 Models
15	Nissan	Moco	66,460		10%
16	Honda	Stepwgn	63,707
17	Suzuki	Palette	60,136		Daihatsu
18	Toyota	Vellfire	58,513		3 Models
19	Mazda	Demio	57,820		7.5%
20	Toyota	Passo	52,281
21	Subaru	Impreza	52,017		Subaru
22	Toyota	Voxy	50,539		3 Models
23	Nissan	Roox	48,810		7.5%
24	Honda	Life	43,935
25	Suzuki	Swift	43,108		Mazda
26	Toyota	Ractis	43,011		2 Models
27	Toyota	Alphard	41,471		5%
28	Nissan	Cube	40,680
29	Subaru	MR Wagon	38,107		Mitsubishi
30	Nissan	March	39,694		0 Models
31	Toyota	Estima	39,331		0%
32	Subaru	Solio	38,877
33	Toyota	Noah	36,764
34	Toyota	Wish	36,513
35	Mazda	CX-5	35,438
36	Nissan	Juke	33,648
37	Toyota	Space Pixis	32,284
38	Toyota	Crown	29,963
39	Toyota	Feel	29,926
40	Nissan	X-Trail	28,350

The top 40 in Japan has some interesting aspects:
1) Toyota dominates not by filling all the top spots but having so many models, which are all popular.
2) Toyota owned Daihatsu have a few very strong sellers only, with only three models listed - but all above 8th.
3) Subaru do well to get three in the top 40, although none in the top 20.
4) Mitsubishi misses out completely.
5) Most telling, they are all Japanese. A bit narrow minded don't you think?

Data source: Thanks to es.autoblog.com

Car Sales Japan By Model: 2012

I would have liked to show more than just the top 20 import models for Japan, but that is as far as the association who has the data goes. The crumbs that we can feed off here show German models accounting for 75% of the list total. The colour coding shows the company group, not just the marque. The units involved are small compared to the overall market in Japan.

1	VW	Golf	22,252	-15%		VW
2	BMW	MINI	16,212	+13%		8 Models
3	Merc	C Class	15,479	+32%		40%
4	VW	Polo	14,442	-5%
5	BMW	3 Series	11,107	+25%		BMW
6	BMW	1 Series	10,436	+98%		5 Models
7	Volvo	V60	8,065	+34%		25%
8	Merc	E Class	7,898	-6%
9	BMW	5 Series	7,265	-22%		Mercedes
10	Merc	B Class	6,671	+118%		3 Models
11	BMW	X1	5,438	-7%		15%
12	Audi	A4	4,797	-8%
13	Fiat	500	4,506	+0%		Volvo
14	Audi	A1	4,502	+7%		3 Models
15	VW	Passat	4,347	+24%		15%
16	VW	UP!	4,266	New
17	VW	Beetle	4,264	-		Fiat
18	Volvo	V50	3,660	+10%		2 Models
19	Audi	A3	3,603	+21%		10%
20	Alfa	Giulietta	3,454	-

Data source: Thanks to JAIA

Car Sales Japan Import By Model: 2012

Japan had a good year of car buying in 2012, helped by the government introducing subsidies to encourage sales. That finished in September this year so one cannot expect sales be as buoyant in 2013. This was the beSt year since 2006. A 30% increase over 2011 was a real boost to local car makers, with some impressive gains. Toyota and Honda led the charge with 44 and 49% improvements. Somehow Mitsubishi contrived a decrease from a positive growth situation.

The first three columns show 2010 to 2012 ranking, the second column in from the right is increase or decrease, and the extreme right shows market share for the major brands.

1	1	1		Toyota	1,494,044	44%	32.7%		Over 30% Incr
2	3	2		Honda	712,535	49%	15.6%		10 Brands
3	2	3		Nissan	560,919	9%	12.3%
5	5	4		Daihatsu	551,281	28%	12.1%		Up To 30% Incr
4	4	5		Suzuki	530,240	21%	11.6%		20 Brands
6	6	6		Mazda	192,463	16%	4.2%
8	8	7		Subaru	141,066	31%	3.1%		Decrease
7	7	8		Mitsubishi	106,562	-2%	2.3%		5 Brands
9	9	9		VW	56,188	11%	1.2%
10	10	10		Lexus	43,657	3%	1.0%
12	12	11		Mercedes	41,901	26%	0.9%
11	11	12		BMW	41,254	20%	0.9%
13	13	13		Audi	24,163	14%
14	14	14		MINI	16,212	13%
15	15	15		Volvo	13,878	18%
18	18	16		Chrysler	6,684	41%
17	17	17		Fiat	5,667	-5%
16	16	18		Peugeot	5,649	-8%
19	19	19		Porsche	4,661	27%
23	24	20		Alfa Romeo	4,452	139%
22	20	21		Citroen	3,795	23%
21	22	22		Ford	3,543	19%
20	21	23		Renault	3,108	1%
24	23	24		GM US	2,041	1%
27	27	25		Land Rover	1,771	99%
26	25	26		smart	1,401	15%
25	26	27		Jaguar	1,014	-1%
28	28	28		Ferrari	517	34%
30	30	29		Maserati	311	25%
29	29	30		Lotus	262	-3%
31	32	31		Bentley	216	71%
38	33	32		Lamborghini	177	79%
32	31	33		Aston Mart	166	19%
36	34	34		Lancia	128	31%
34	35	35		Rolls Royce	90	13%
				Others	317
				Total	4,572,333	30%

Data source: Thanks to JAMA & JAIA

Car Sales Japan: 2012