Foreign Auto Makers Making More Headway in Japan

TOKYO – Japan’s import-car sales maintained steady growth through the first eight months of 2012 and by the end of December likely will post another strong year.

Sales through August totaled 197,768 units, up 14.5% year-on-year, according to the monthly sales report published last week by the Japan Automobile Importers Assn. Cars accounted for 95% of deliveries during the period (see data).

For the full year, sales are on track to exceed 290,000 units, although Bloomberg Businessweek reports the pace of growth has slowed since subsidies for small, fuel-efficient vehicles ended in July. The final total could fall to 275,000, unchanged from 2011.

From January through June, JAIA reports 56% of vehicles qualified for subsidies of up to ¥100,000 ($1,278), depending on model size.

Included in the 8-month total were 45,698 Japanese transplant-built vehicles representing 23% of import demand. Volkswagen again was the best-selling brand at 36,920 units, followed by Nissan (31,702), Mercedes-Benz (25,342), BMW (24,494) and Audi (15,439).

The top U.S. brand was Jeep with 3,074 deliveries.

Nicholas Speeks, chairman of Mercedes-Benz Japan and new JAIA chairman, predicts foreign-brand sales (excluding Japanese) will exceed 230,000 units this year. Deliveries totaled 150,711 during the first eight months.