First market lift in 15 months at +24.1% – Best Selling Cars Blog

Toyota Voxy sales are up 174.7% year-on-year in September.

The Japanese new vehicle market manages its first year-on-year since June 2021 this month with a very robust +24.1% to 395,163 units. However keep in mind September 2021 was down -32.2% over the prior year so we’re still evolving at below pre-Covid volumes. The year-to-date tally is now down -10.3% to 3,120,718. Market leader Toyota (+25%) matches the market for a 29.2% share vs. 29.9% so far this year. Suzuki (+45.8%) roars ahead and confirms it is now the #2 brand in the country with 14.8% share while Daihatsu (+55.8%) does even better at #3. In fact the entire Top 11 is unchanged on last month, with Honda (+22.2%) and Nissan (+0.3%) rounding out the Top 5 but underperforming and Subaru (+71.5%), Lexus (+56%) and Mazda (+53.7%) in outstanding shape. Below, Hyundai (+2350%), Cadillac (+51.9%), Porsche (+45.8%), Lamborghini (+39.5%) and Renault (+39%) stand out. BYD sells 12 units this month.

Over in the regular cars ranking, the Toyota Yaris/Cross (+25.9%) remains the undisputed leader and evolves roughly like the market. The Nissan Note (+43.1%) is very solid in 2nd place whereas the Toyota Corolla/Cross (+14.4%) is weak. The next four models all beat the market, with the Toyota Noah (+277.2%), Raize (+185.6%) and Voxy (+174.7%) the most dynamic followed by the Toyota Sienna (+62%). The Toyota Roomy (+86.7%) also performs in the remainder of the Top 10. Below, the Mitsubishi Outlander (+2176.9%), Mazda Roadster (+274.3%), Nissan X-Trail (+226.8%), Mazda CX-5 (+202.2%) and CX-8 (+190.3%) make themselves noticed. The Mazda CX-60 (#46) and Lexus NX350H (#48) are the only recent launches in the Top 50.

First Top 20 finish for the Renault Twingo in the foreign models ranking.

Kei car-wise, the Honda N-BOX (+64.4%) returns to its usual status of best-selling vehicle in the country and vastly outpaces the market, as does the Daihatsu Tanto (+86.4%) in 2nd place. The Tanto now ranks #3 year-to-date. The Daihatsu Move (+94.6%), Mira (+68.8%), Suzuki Alto (+37.8%) and Daihatsu Taft (+36.5%) also make waves in the remainder of the Top 10. Meanwhile the Nissan Roox (-36%) implodes while the Suzuki Hustler (+13.8%) and WagonR (+3.3%) can’t keep up with the market growth rate. The new Nissan Sakura EV slips outside the Top 10 at #11 but delivers a record volume above 4,200 sales.

Looking at Q3 figures for foreign models, the Mini lineup (+3.4%) reclaims the top spot off the Mercedes C-Class while the VW Golf (-27.4%) remains in third place. The VW T-Cross (-5.3%) is up two spots on Q2 to #4 but falls year-on-year, with the Volvo 60-Series (+23.2%) rounding out the Top 5. The VW Polo (-6.5%) is up 13 ranks on Q2 to #6 and the Mercedes GLB (-9.1%) up 6 to #7 but both models flounder year-to-date. The VW T-Roc (-41.2%) and Audi Q3 close the Top 10 above the Jeep Wrangler (-46.5%) and Volvo XC40 (-33.7%) in complete freefall. The BMW X3 (#13), 1 Series (#16) and Mercedes GLE (#17) return inside the Top 20 while the Renault Twingo (#18) posts a very first Top 20 finish at #18.

Previous month: Japan August 2022: Suzuki (+7.1%) up to #2, Mitsubishi (+33%), Mazda (+18.4%) shine in market off -9.3%

One year ago: Japan September 2021: Market stalls -32.2%, Mitsubishi (+23.7%) only gainer in Top 15

Full September 2022 Top 55 all-brands, Top 50 regular cars, Top 35 all-kei cars and Q3 Top 20 foreign models below.

Japan September 2022 – brands:

Pos	Brand	Sep-22	%	/21	Aug	2022	%	/21	Pos	FY21
1	Toyota	115,246	29.2%	25.0%	1	933,640	29.9%	-16.7%	1	1
2	Suzuki	58,402	14.8%	45.8%	2	440,433	14.1%	-6.5%	2	2
3	Daihatsu	52,204	13.2%	55.8%	3	406,892	13.0%	-8.1%	4	4
4	Honda	48,475	12.3%	22.2%	4	427,417	13.7%	-4.7%	3	3
5	Nissan	42,503	10.8%	0.3%	5	345,077	11.1%	-3.6%	5	5
6	Mazda	15,812	4.0%	53.7%	6	121,976	3.9%	-0.4%	6	6
7	Subaru	10,097	2.6%	71.5%	7	74,684	2.4%	-5.3%	7	7
8	Mitsubishi	9,607	2.4%	11.5%	8	70,521	2.3%	12.1%	8	8
9	Isuzu	5,443	1.4%	-15.4%	9	31,032	1.0%	-40.8%	12	9
10	Mercedes	5,369	1.4%	2.7%	10	36,291	1.2%	-10.9%	9	11
11	Lexus	4,399	1.1%	56.0%	11	32,534	1.0%	-21.4%	11	12
12	Volkswagen	3,833	1.0%	-12.9%	13	23,297	0.7%	-16.1%	13	14
13	Hino	3,559	0.9%	-39.9%	12	34,998	1.1%	-23.7%	10	10
14	BMW	3,516	0.9%	-12.9%	15	22,037	0.7%	-21.1%	14	13
15	Mitsubishi Fuso	2,297	0.6%	-21.4%	14	19,395	0.6%	-25.3%	15	15
16	Mini	2,150	0.5%	30.2%	17	14,053	0.5%	2.6%	17	17
17	Audi	2,017	0.5%	-5.0%	16	15,137	0.5%	-18.7%	16	16
18	Volvo	1,789	0.5%	1.5%	18	12,093	0.4%	-4.7%	18	18
19	Renault	1,062	0.3%	39.0%	19	6,680	0.2%	5.9%	21	22
20	UD Trucks	1,018	0.3%	10.5%	21	6,822	0.2%	3.4%	20	21
21	Jeep	885	0.2%	-49.3%	20	7,689	0.2%	-30.8%	19	19
22	Peugeot	754	0.2%	35.9%	22	6,094	0.2%	-37.2%	22	20
23	Porsche	738	0.2%	45.8%	24	5,517	0.2%	2.1%	23	23
24	Fiat	635	0.2%	-24.1%	26	4,606	0.1%	-12.6%	24	24
25	Land Rover	563	0.1%	-13.9%	23	3,433	0.1%	-15.0%	26	26
26	Citroen	338	0.1%	-1.2%	25	3,459	0.1%	-24.2%	25	25
27	Abarth	248	0.1%	-21.3%	28	2,106	0.1%	8.8%	27	27
28	Alfa Romeo	191	0.0%	-35.5%	32	1,253	0.0%	-32.4%	28	28
29	Hyundai	147	0.0%	2350.0%	29	371	0.0%	#####	37	47
30	Maserati	144	0.0%	17.1%	30	909	0.0%	18.4%	30	30
31	Ferrari	140	0.0%	12.9%	27	1,168	0.0%	31.4%	29	29
32	Cadillac	117	0.0%	51.9%	34	665	0.0%	12.7%	32	34
33	Jaguar	104	0.0%	-37.0%	38	740	0.0%	-19.7%	31	31
34	Chevrolet	97	0.0%	4.3%	36	559	0.0%	-4.4%	33	33
35	Lamborghini	60	0.0%	39.5%	33	481	0.0%	26.2%	35	38
36	DS	54	0.0%	12.5%	31	510	0.0%	-21.2%	34	32
37	Bentley	53	0.0%	3.9%	35	459	0.0%	-4.4%	36	37
38	Alpina	48	0.0%	45.5%	43	246	0.0%	-3.9%	41	40
39	Dodge	36	0.0%	-25.0%	39	367	0.0%	-20.9%	38	36
40	Ford	34	0.0%	-32.0%	37	341	0.0%	-29.3%	39	35
41	Scania	28	0.0%	7.7%	41	243	0.0%	3.4%	42	41
42	Rolls-Royce	21	0.0%	-27.6%	42	199	0.0%	13.1%	43	43
43	McLaren	17	0.0%	13.3%	45	108	0.0%	-25.0%	45	44
44	BYD	12	0.0%	new	51	18	0.0%	new	49	–
45	Aston Martin	8	0.0%	-70.4%	44	260	0.0%	-18.5%	40	39
46	Lotus	3	0.0%	-91.4%	47	169	0.0%	-26.8%	44	42
47	GMC	3	0.0%	-72.7%	46	37	0.0%	-50.0%	46	45
48	Chrysler	3	0.0%	-25.0%	48	19	0.0%	18.8%	48	49
49	Morgan	1	0.0%	0.0%	–	18	0.0%	-5.3%	50	48
50	Pontiac	1	0.0%	n/a	49	15	0.0%	275.0%	51	53
51	MG	1	0.0%	n/a	–	9	0.0%	80.0%	52	52
52	Lancia	1	0.0%	n/a	–	6	0.0%	0.0%	54	50
53	Smart	1	0.0%	n/a	–	2	0.0%	-33.3%	56	57
54	Opel	0	0.0%	n/a	40	32	0.0%	#####	47	56
55	Buick	0	0.0%	n/a	50	8	0.0%	14.3%	53	51
56	Bugatti	0	0.0%	n/a	–	3	0.0%	-25.0%	55	55
–	Others	879	0.2%	58.4%	–	3,677	0.1%	5.3%	–	–

Japan September 2022 – regular cars:

Pos	Model	Sep-22	/21	Aug	2022	/21	Pos	FY21
1	Toyota Yaris/Cross	15,979	25.9%	1	130,279	-24.9%	1	1
2	Nissan Note	9,776	43.1%	2	82,966	22.9%	4	5
3	Toyota Corolla/Cross	9,039	14.4%	3	100,415	28.5%	2	3
4	Toyota Raize	8,829	185.6%	4	66,059	2.4%	5	6
5	Toyota Voxy	8,241	174.7%	14	38,254	-30.1%	13	9
6	Toyota Sienta	7,785	62.0%	17	38,668	-16.2%	12	13
7	Toyota Noah	7,770	277.2%	11	40,188	15.7%	11	18
8	Honda Freed	7,763	26.5%	6	62,251	17.7%	6	10
9	Toyota Roomy	6,791	86.7%	8	85,373	-19.7%	3	2
10	Toyota Aqua	6,732	-39.6%	10	50,499	3.9%	7	8
11	Toyota Alphard	6,072	-18.4%	22	46,089	-42.1%	8	4
12	Nissan Serena	5,854	-14.3%	5	45,382	-6.9%	9	11
13	Suzuki Solio	4,656	87.5%	12	29,084	-19.9%	16	17
14	Mazda CX-5	4,642	202.2%	18	25,007	49.7%	21	28
15	Toyota Land Cruiser W	4,182	67.5%	16	27,237	3.8%	17	21
16	Honda Fit	4,001	7.3%	7	45,228	5.6%	10	12
17	Honda Vezel	3,967	1.7%	13	35,833	-0.4%	14	14
18	Toyota RAV4	3,708	23.6%	24	23,892	-40.7%	22	15
19	Nissan X-Trail	3,395	226.8%	21	13,058	29.0%	30	42
20	Toyota Prius	3,011	-17.8%	25	25,623	-34.1%	18	16
21	Honda StepWGN	2,792	-15.5%	9	25,527	-14.8%	19	19
22	Toyota Harrier	2,583	-30.2%	15	29,784	-53.3%	15	7
23	Mitsubishi Outlander	2,368	2176.9%	27	15,202	1082.1%	29	n/a
24	Suzuki Swift	2,363	23.8%	26	19,708	23.4%	23	26
25	Mazda2	2,355	130.0%	20	19,081	3.3%	24	25
26	Subaru Levorg	2,281	101.1%	23	10,804	-52.2%	36	24
27	Subaru Impreza	2,132	18.2%	30	16,314	-26.1%	27	23
28	Toyota Passo	2,068	117.9%	19	25,354	0.8%	20	22
29	Daihatsu Rocky	1,984	114.3%	28	16,626	7.7%	26	30
30	Subaru Forester	1,736	143.8%	29	18,479	21.5%	25	27
31	Suzuki Jimny Wagon	1,618	92.8%	38	12,101	12.2%	33	38
32	Mitsubishi Delica D5	1,400	-22.1%	31	12,256	2.7%	32	36
33	Mazda CX-8	1,382	190.3%	36	10,540	-20.4%	37	34
34	Suzuki Xbee	1,294	154.2%	35	9,136	-11.1%	41	41
35	Nissan Kicks	1,249	-62.7%	47	15,384	-47.9%	28	20
36	Toyota Crown	1,246	-13.7%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	29
37	Nissan Leaf	1,177	-19.1%	33	10,210	30.3%	38	43
38	Mazda MX-5 (Roadster)	1,048	274.3%	39	7,696	72.8%	44	n/a
39	Subaru Legacy	988	n/a	43	7,753	n/a	43	n/a
40	Toyota 86	974	n/a	42	11,336	n/a	34	n/a
41	Honda Shuttle	891	-15.2%	34	11,280	4.0%	35	39
42	Mazda CX-30	890	-45.5%	32	12,638	-17.2%	31	32
43	Toyota C-HR	868	-23.3%	37	9,648	-34.3%	40	33
44	Nissan March	858	8.7%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	46
45	Honda Civic	854	1.5%	45	6,543	20.0%	n/a	48
46	Mazda CX-60	813	new	50	1,327	new	n/a	–
47	Toyota Hiace W	801	7.8%	44	6,738	0.2%	45	47
48	Lexus NX350H	775	new	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
49	Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross	742	-4.1%	48	6,655	-6.4%	n/a	45
50	Daihatsu Thor	741	46.7%	40	8,179	-25.7%	42	37

Japan September 2022 – kei cars:

Pos	Model	Sep-22	/21	Aug	2022	/21	Pos	FY21
1	Honda N-BOX	19,411	64.4%	1	151,594	-0.6%	1	1
2	Daihatsu Tanto	9,878	86.4%	5	65,670	-27.6%	3	3
3	Suzuki Spacia	8,619	22.0%	2	71,530	-32.5%	2	2
4	Suzuki WagonR	7,822	3.3%	4	59,831	30.4%	5	7
5	Daihatsu Move	7,549	94.6%	3	65,321	-15.7%	4	4
6	Suzuki Hustler	6,715	13.8%	8	51,158	-23.7%	7	6
7	Suzuki Alto	6,600	37.8%	7	50,279	3.0%	8	10
8	Daihatsu Mira	6,576	68.8%	12	47,382	-6.2%	9	8
9	Nissan Roox	6,209	-36.0%	6	54,683	-20.0%	6	5
10	Daihatsu Taft	5,324	36.5%	9	43,430	-6.7%	10	9
11	Nissan Sakura	4,247	new	10	12,942	new	17	–
12	Suzuki Jimny	3,978	45.4%	11	32,528	14.9%	12	13
13	Honda N-WGN	3,466	-22.2%	13	32,130	-18.1%	13	12
14	Nissan Dayz	3,195	-31.3%	14	36,807	-12.2%	11	11
15	Mitsubishi eK	2,417	-48.8%	15	21,124	-25.9%	14	14
16	Suzuki Every Wagon	1,618	183.4%	17	11,086	-14.3%	19	18
17	Honda N-ONE	1,568	111.9%	22	14,850	-17.2%	15	15
18	Daihatsu Cast	1,462	180.1%	18	11,391	-10.2%	18	17
19	Mitsubishi eK Cross EV	1,058	new	21	2,633	new	28	–
20	Toyota Pixis	893	8.4%	16	14,090	-4.5%	16	16
21	Mazda Flair Wagon	873	22.3%	20	6,837	-18.5%	21	20
22	Subaru Chiffon	522	486.5%	24	3,167	0.9%	24	26
23	Mazda Flair Crossover	483	21.7%	23	4,075	4.4%	22	21
24	Daihatsu Copen	456	113.1%	28	3,413	42.3%	23	28
25	Subaru Stella	436	311.3%	27	2,644	1.6%	27	30
26	Subaru Pleo	409	104.5%	29	2,363	-15.6%	30	29
27	Nissan NV100 Clipper Rio	368	3.4%	26	3,107	-2.4%	25	25
28	Mazda Flair	333	-5.9%	31	2,965	-9.1%	26	22
29	Mazda Carol	251	19.0%	25	2,340	-20.4%	31	27
30	Toyota Copen GR Sport	154	105.3%	30	1,515	47.2%	32	31
31	Mazda Scrum Wagon	136	109.2%	32	964	-0.4%	34	32
32	Daihatsu Wake	130	-77.2%	19	8,943	-27.3%	20	19
33	Toyota C+POD	107	39.0%	33	1,062	280.6%	33	33
34	Mitsubishi Town Box	47	193.8%	34	398	9.0%	35	34
35	Honda S660	4	-99.1%	35	2,380	-13.2%	29	24

Japan Q3 2022 – foreign models:

Pos	Model	Q3 2022	/21	Q2	2022	/21	Pos	FY21
1	Mini	4,718	3.4%	2	14,052	2.6%	1	1
2	Mercedes C-Class	2,911	n/a	1	10,753	n/a	2	n/a
3	VW Golf	2,236	-27.4%	3	6,560	10.0%	3	5
4	VW T-Cross	1,992	-5.3%	6	5,083	-30.3%	5	2
5	Volvo S/V/XC60	1,960	23.2%	4	5,553	-3.2%	4	4
6	VW Polo	1,789	-6.5%	19	4,378	-20.3%	7	7
7	Mercedes GLB	1,475	-9.1%	13	n/a	n/a	n/a	11
8	BMW 2 Series	1,273	10.7%	n/a	2,881	-18.1%	11	17
9	VW T-Roc	1,159	-41.2%	12	3,937	-32.4%	8	6
10	Audi Q3	1,152	n/a	15	2,743	5.7%	13	18
11	Jeep Wrangler	1,089	-46.5%	11	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
12	Volvo XC40	1,072	-33.7%	5	4,469	-10.4%	6	9
13	BMW X3	980	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
14	Mercedes G-Class	972	-28.5%	8	3,399	-14.4%	10	12
15	BMW 3 Series	909	-63.5%	14	3,437	-51.3%	9	3
16	BMW 1 Series	901	-39.7%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	14
17	Mercedes GLE	841	-37.2%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
18	Renault Twingo	829	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
19	Audi A3	821	-48.1%	9	2,852	n/a	12	19
20	BMW X1	783	n/a	16	2,595	n/a	14	n/a

Sources: JADA, JMVA, JAIA