Foreign Brands Capture a Record 9% of Japan’s Car Market
Foreign-brand passenger vehicles captured a record-high 9% of the Japanese domestic car market in the fiscal year ended March 31, the Japan Automobile Importers Assn. reports.
#economics
Foreign-brand passenger vehicles captured a record-high 9% of the Japanese domestic car market in the fiscal year ended March 31, the Japan Automobile Importers Assn. reports.
Unit sales rose 2% to 303,900 vehicles, marking their third consecutive year of growth. Volume was second only to the all-time record set in fiscal 1996. JAIA says demand was propelled in part by rising consumer interest in SUV/crossovers and diesels.
The trade group attributes some of the gains to consumer backlash to scandals last autumn involving falsified safety inspections by Nissan and Subaru. The lapse prompted Japan’s transport ministry in October to order all Japanese car manufacturers to verify that they were meeting government inspection rules.
Last year’s best-selling import brands were Mercedes-Benz (68,400 units), BMW (51,300) and Volkswagen (48,200), according to JAIA.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Urban Transport, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, Lamborghini and more
Why electric pods may be the future of urban transport, the amazing Jeep Grand Wagoneer, Lamborghini is a green pioneer, LMC on capacity utilization, an aluminum study gives the nod to. . .aluminum, and why McLaren is working with TUMI.
-
On Lincoln-Shinola, Euro EV Sales, Engineered Carbon, and more
On a Lincoln-Shinola concept, Euro EV sales, engineered carbon for fuel cells, a thermal sensor for ADAS, battery analytics, and measuring vehicle performance in use with big data
-
VW Warns of Higher Costs to Develop EVs
CEO Herbert Diess says the €20 billion ($23 billion) Volkswagen AG has budgeted to electrify its entire vehicle lineup won’t be enough to meet that goal.