Japan's Domestic Car Sales Increase 42.8% in April

According to the Japan Automobile Importers Association, data released by the Japan Automobile Importers Association showed that sales of imported cars in Japan increased by 42.8% year-on-year to 16,600 units in April 2011, marking the eighth straight month of growth.

It is understood that the sales volume of imported cars in Japan includes the sales of cars imported by Japanese car manufacturers from overseas to the domestic market. In April 2011, the sales volume of imported cars of local brands in the Japanese market increased by 223% to reach 4,067 units. The increase in sales was mainly due to the import of Nissan's March small cars.

In April 2011, the total sales of non-domestic brands imported cars, trucks and passenger cars from Japan increased by 21% year-on-year to reach 12,600 units.

Germany’s Volkswagen AG is the largest foreign car company in the Japanese market and holds a 17.9% share of the Japanese imported car market. In April, car sales were 2,970 units, an increase of 5.9% compared to the same period last year.

In April 2011, Nissan Motor Co. accounted for 16.7% of the Japanese imported car market. The company sold a total of 2,768 imported cars in Japan. In the same period last year, the number of imported cars sold by the company was only 9; BMW in April. In the Japanese market, the sales of automobiles were 2260 vehicles, an increase of 56.3% year-on-year.