Japan May 2024: Honda (+37.9%), Suzuki (+20.5%) highlight recovering market

Honda WR V Japan May 2024


The Honda WR-V is inside the Top 20 in Japan and helps Honda up this month.

New vehicle sales in Japan slow down their fall in May to just -4.4% year-on-year to 312,406 units. Keep in mind May 2023 was up 25% on the year prior. The year-to-date total is now down -14.8% to 1,753,849. Toyota (-13.4%) underperforms year-on-year but scores a solid 30.5% share. Suzuki (+20.5%) and Honda (+37.9%) completely ignore the negative market with double-digit gains. Nissan (-3.4%) is relatively stable but Daihatsu (-44.7%) remains in dire straits and Mazda (-18.9%) also plunges. Subaru (+15.1%), Isuzu (+7.9%) and Mitsubishi (+3.9%) all manage upticks in the remainder of the Top 10. BMW (+22.1%) also shines at #13. All the way down the ranking, notice Lamborghini up 122.7% with 49 sales.

The Toyota Yaris/Cross (+6.5%) stays on top of the regular car charts above the Toyota Corolla/Cross (+39.8%). The Toyota Sienta (-3.2%) recedes year-on-year but remains third. Excellent showings for the Toyota Alphard (+288.9%), Honda Vezel (+83.9%) and Nissan Note (+31.9%) below. Honda has a lot of outstanding models in the Top 50, including the StepWGN (+179.7%), Fit (+51.2%), ZR-V (+103.3%) and the new WR-V (#19).

As for kei cars, we have a little surprise on top of the ranking: for the first time since May 2022, the Honda N-BOX (+4.4%) isn’t the best-seller. Instead, the Suzuki Spacia (+91.9%) takes the lead. The Daihatsu Tanto (-44.9%) rallies back up 9 spots on April to #3 as production restarts. Three Suzukis follow, all in positive: the Wagon R (+10.8%), Hustler (+16.9%) and Alto (+3.9%). The Nissan Dayz (+82%) and Mitsubishi Delica Mini/eK (+29.8%) are also in great shape.

Previous month: Japan April 2024: Honda, Mitsubishi defy market down -11.2%

One year ago: Japan May 2023: Toyota Prius up to #2 in market up 25%

Full May 2024 Top 53 All brands, Top 50 regular models and Top 31 All kei cars below.

Japan May 2024 – brands:

Pos Brand May-24 % /23 Apr 2024 % /23 Pos FY23
1 Toyota 95,264 30.5% – 13.4% 1 522,623 29.8% – 24.6% 1 1
2 Suzuki 55,546 17.8% + 20.5% 2 316,507 18.0% + 14.8% 2 2
3 Honda 48,527 15.5% + 37.9% 3 282,534 16.1% + 18.3% 3 4
4 Nissan 31,604 10.1% – 3.4% 4 209,519 11.9% – 0.2% 4 5
5 Daihatsu 23,179 7.4% – 44.7% 5 84,711 4.8% – 68.6% 5 3
6 Mazda 9,548 3.1% – 18.9% 6 59,091 3.4% – 29.4% 6 6
7 Subaru 7,363 2.4% + 15.1% 9 40,432 2.3% – 5.1% 8 7
8 Lexus 6,792 2.2% – 2.8% 8 38,071 2.2% – 10.8% 9 9
9 Mitsubishi 6,754 2.2% + 3.9% 7 50,175 2.9% + 23.2% 7 8
10 Isuzu 4,367 1.4% + 7.9% 10 24,557 1.4% – 9.3% 10 10
11 Mercedes 3,885 1.2% – 0.4% 11 20,526 1.2% – 0.3% 11 11
12 Hino 3,215 1.0% + 12.8% 13 16,704 1.0% + 0.9% 12 12
13 BMW 2,791 0.9% + 22.1% 14 12,249 0.7% – 7.6% 14 14
14 Mitsubishi Fuso 2,448 0.8% – 13.0% 12 13,829 0.8% – 3.3% 13 13
15 Volkswagen 2,100 0.7% – 17.7% 15 10,790 0.6% + 1.0% 15 15
16 Audi 1,885 0.6% – 6.8% 16 9,774 0.6% – 1.8% 16 16
17 Jeep 895 0.3% – 4.3% 19 3,769 0.2% – 24.9% 19 19
18 Volvo 855 0.3% – 23.2% 18 5,255 0.3% – 16.1% 18 18
19 Mini 798 0.3% – 31.3% 17 5,942 0.3% – 15.0% 17 17
20 Porsche 607 0.2% – 17.6% 20 3,752 0.2% + 19.0% 20 23
21 UD Trucks 596 0.2% – 22.0% 21 3,676 0.2% – 11.1% 21 20
22 Land Rover 526 0.2% – 29.1% 22 3,512 0.2% + 0.5% 22 21
23 Peugeot 425 0.1% – 24.2% 23 2,276 0.1% – 38.2% 24 22
24 Renault 373 0.1% – 27.4% 24 2,619 0.1% – 22.9% 23 24
25 Fiat 342 0.1% – 8.3% 25 1,677 0.1% – 6.6% 25 26
26 Citroen 239 0.1% – 41.8% 26 1,261 0.1% – 49.4% 26 25
27 Abarth 126 0.0% + 53.7% 28 633 0.0% + 31.3% 28 30
28 Ferrari 113 0.0% + 4.6% 27 583 0.0% + 6.0% 29 31
29 BYD 101 0.0% – 28.4% 31 935 0.1% + 93.2% 27 29
30 Maserati 100 0.0% + 17.6% 29 514 0.0% + 29.5% 30 27
31 Alfa Romeo 77 0.0% – 58.8% 30 451 0.0% – 37.0% 31 28
32 Aston Martin 52 0.0% + 26.8% 33 186 0.0% – 2.1% 39 39
33 Jaguar 50 0.0% + 16.3% 43 277 0.0% – 6.4% 34 35
34 Lamborghini 49 0.0% + 122.7% 34 284 0.0% + 53.5% 33 36
35 Bentley 48 0.0% – 14.3% 40 205 0.0% – 1.4% 36 34
36 Cadillac 38 0.0% + 40.7% 45 186 0.0% – 29.3% 40 37
37 Scania 38 0.0% + 8.6% 35 181 0.0% + 25.7% 41 40
38 Chevrolet 37 0.0% – 31.5% 32 265 0.0% – 20.7% 35 33
39 DS 36 0.0% – 71.4% 38 204 0.0% – 42.0% 37 32
40 Alpina 28 0.0% – 44.0% 39 188 0.0% + 72.5% 38 41
41 Rolls-Royce 27 0.0% + 200.0% 36 157 0.0% + 84.7% 42 43
42 Hyundai 23 0.0% + 35.3% 37 317 0.0% + 59.3% 32 38
43 Ford 23 0.0% – 20.7% 44 84 0.0% – 37.3% 45 42
44 McLaren 20 0.0% + 42.9% 42 88 0.0% + 23.9% 44 46
45 Lotus 16 0.0% + 1500.0% 41 123 0.0% + 1130.0% 43 45
46 Dodge 5 0.0% – 70.6% 46 44 0.0% – 59.3% 46 44
47 GMC 2 0.0% + 0.0% 47 9 0.0% + 0.0% 47 47
48 Morgan 2 0.0% + 0.0% 49 7 0.0% – 56.3% 48 48
49 Buick 1 0.0% n/a 48 4 0.0% – 33.3% 49 54
50 Chrysler 1 0.0% + 0.0% 52 3 0.0% – 40.0% 50 51
51 Unimog 1 0.0% + 0.0% 51 3 0.0% – 40.0% 51 53
52 Kia 1 0.0% n/a   – 1 0.0% n/a 54 56
53 MG 1 0.0% + 0.0%   – 1 0.0% – 80.0% 55 50
  – Others  466 0.1% + 100.0%   – 2,082 0.1% + 2.5%   –  –

Japan May 2024 – regular cars:

Pos Model May-24 /23 Apr 2024 /23 Pos FY23
1 Toyota Yaris/Cross 13,538 + 6.5% 1 69,531 – 12.8% 2 1
2 Toyota Corolla/Cross 12,263 + 39.8% 2 71,388 + 1.9% 1 2
3 Toyota Sienta 8,820 – 3.2% 3 46,662 – 15.8% 3 3
4 Nissan Note 7,365 + 31.9% 6 44,621 – 10.0% 4 4
5 Toyota Alphard 5,814 + 288.9% 5 30,060 + 26.7% 9 17
6 Honda Vezel 5,717 + 83.9% 4 37,302 + 94.8% 5 14
7 Nissan Serena 5,507 – 17.3% 8 33,713 + 26.9% 7 11
8 Toyota Harrier 5,294 – 14.5% 10 29,665 – 19.7% 10 12
9 Toyota Aqua 4,966 – 21.1% 13 22,461 – 41.1% 17 9
10 Toyota Roomy 4,887 – 23.7% 32 10,490 – 75.7% 28 5
11 Honda StepWGN 4,845 + 179.7% 11 29,554 + 125.0% 11 19
12 Toyota Voxy 4,692 – 32.1% 7 28,337 – 29.0% 13 8
13 Toyota Noah 4,520 – 36.1% 9 28,674 – 29.1% 12 7
14 Honda Fit 4,436 + 51.2% 12 27,459 + 9.3% 14 15
15 Toyota Crown 4,331 + 38.6% 16 26,762 + 36.4% 15 20
16 Honda Freed 4,280 – 26.9% 14 31,005 – 14.5% 8 10
17 Suzuki Solio 3,881 + 17.9% 17 24,235 + 4.1% 16 18
18 Honda ZR-V 3,185 + 103.3% 19 18,863 + 834.7% 18 n/a
19 Honda WR-V 3,063 new 24 7,486 new 32  –
20 Toyota Raize 2,799 – 46.2% 18 11,833 – 56.9% 25 13
21 Toyota RAV4 2,679 + 37.4% 22 13,164 – 42.5% 22 21
22 Mazda2 2,652 + 84.9% 25 8,790 – 7.3% 29 31
23 Toyota Vellfire 2,601 n/a 20 14,202 n/a 21 n/a
24 Suzuki Swift 2,447 + 26.1% 21 16,000 + 37.6% 20 25
25 Toyota Land Cruiser W 2,416 – 37.8% 29 10,763 – 58.6% 27 16
26 Subaru Impreza 2,209 + 30.2% 28 11,916 + 0.5% 24 22
27 Suzuki Jimny Wagon 1,932 – 7.9% 26 11,720 + 5.4% 26 26
28 Lexus LBX 1,722 new 27 8,744 new 30 n/a
29 Nissan X-Trail 1,521 – 26.5% 23 16,497 + 44.3% 19 24
30 Subaru Forester 1,513 + 69.2% 30 7,965 – 2.7% 31 30
31 Subaru Levorg 1,507 + 35.6% 31 11,936 + 92.6% 23 36
32 Toyota Prius 1,422 – 84.6% 15 34,930 – 7.7% 6 6
33 Mitsubishi Delica D5 1,200 + 5.0% 36 7,484 – 6.0% 33 33
34 Mazda CX-5 1,084 – 43.7% 33 7,159 – 38.8% 34 28
35 Honda Civic 1,053 + 107.7% 34 6,783 + 16.8% 36 41
36 Lexus NX350H 979 – 53.9% 35 5,770 – 60.6% 37 23
37 Nissan Kicks 949 + 4.1% 37 6,902 + 19.4% 35 35
38 Honda Odyssey 903 n/a 43 5,223 n/a 40 n/a
39 Suzuki Xbee 874 + 18.4% 38 5,710 – 4.0% 38 40
40 Mazda CX-30 843 – 37.9% 41 5,642 – 36.0% 39 32
41 Mazda3 828 + 112.3% 39 5,061 – 16.2% 41 38
42 Toyota Hiace W 775 + 14.0% 42 n/a n/a 49 42
43 Lexus RX500H 768 – 13.6% 44 3,602 n/a 43 47
44 Subaru Legacy 593 + 2.4% 50 n/a n/a n/a n/a
45 Lexus RX350 512 + 52.4% 46 3,391 n/a 44 n/a
46 Mazda CX-3 497 – 19.4% 47 n/a n/a n/a n/a
47 Lexus UX300H 484 new 45 n/a new 50  –
48 Mazda CX-60 477 – 46.8% 48 n/a n/a n/a 29
49 Mitsubishi Delica D2 465 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
50 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 411 – 44.8% n/a n/a n/a n/a 50

Japan May 2024 – kei cars:

Pos Model May-24 /23 Apr 2024 /23 Pos FY23
1 Suzuki Spacia 15,160 + 91.9% 2 71,943 + 41.0% 2 3
2 Honda N-BOX 14,582 + 4.4% 1 83,877 – 12.8% 1 1
3 Daihatsu Tanto 6,174 – 44.9% 12 15,834 – 75.8% 10 2
4 Suzuki WagonR 6,037 + 10.8% 4 35,510 + 9.3% 4 6
5 Suzuki Hustler 6,012 + 16.9% 3 41,338 + 51.5% 3 5
6 Suzuki Alto 5,608 + 3.9% 5 31,040 + 1.3% 6 8
7 Nissan Dayz 4,322 + 82.0% 10 23,654 + 64.8% 8 13
8 Daihatsu Mira 3,933 – 19.4% 8 14,639 – 45.9% 11 9
9 Nissan Roox 3,618 – 3.4% 7 31,250 – 9.9% 5 7
10 Mitsubishi Delica Mini/eK 3,262 + 29.8% 6 27,605 + 148.8% 7 11
11 Suzuki Jimny 3,178 + 0.3% 9 16,939 + 4.9% 9 12
12 Honda N-WGN 2,449 + 7.9% 11 13,675 – 23.9% 12 14
13 Nissan Sakura 1,517 – 45.3% 16 10,578 – 35.3% 13 15
14 Suzuki Every Wagon 1,479 + 10.5% 13 6,963 – 20.8% 15 17
15 Daihatsu Taft 1,427 – 63.4% 18 5,525 – 79.6% 17 10
16 Honda N-ONE 1,364 + 7.6% 14 7,480 – 3.1% 14 16
17 Mazda Flair Wagon 1,051 + 11.6% 15 6,916 + 28.3% 16 18
18 Daihatsu Move 749 – 90.9% 22 5,462 – 89.3% 18 4
19 Nissan NV100 Clipper Rio 547 + 40.3% 20 2,687 + 18.6% 20 23
20 Subaru Chiffon 467 + 27.9% 24 823 – 55.9% 25 25
21 Mazda Carol 328 – 25.8% 21 1,721 – 20.1% 22 24
22 Toyota Pixis 256 – 80.2% 19 2,114 – 56.3% 21 19
23 Mazda Flair   249 – 19.2% 23 1,497 – 18.0% 23 27
24 Mazda Flair Crossover 245 – 49.0% 17 3,183 + 42.4% 19 22
25 Mitsubishi eK Cross EV 153 – 67.0% 27 1,100 – 75.4% 24 21
26 Daihatsu Copen 152 – 53.4% 28 302 – 87.2% 28 26
27 Mazda Scrum Wagon 103 + 14.4% 26 494 – 6.3% 27 31
28 Subaru Pleo 78 – 48.0% 25 534 – 46.1% 26 28
29 Toyota Copen GR Sport 47 – 63.6% 31 163 – 76.5% 30 30
30 Mitsubishi Town Box 42 – 8.7% 30 203 – 6.9% 29 32
31 Toyota C+POD 41 + 86.4% 29 154 + 14.1% 31 33

Source: JADA, JMVA, JAIA

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