Sales of 660cc mini-cars rise to record high in Japan

Sales in Japan of 660cc passenger mini-cars shot to a record high in the last financial year, indicating structural change in a market where family size was shrinking and buyers were shifting to smaller cars.

Mini-vehicles, a category known as "kei" in Japan, that follow certain size and other criteria, than for bigger vehicles are charged low taxes in the country. The number of passenger mini-cars sold by the auto industry, stood at a record high of 1.57 million,  up 23 per cent from the previous year, industry data showed yesterday.

Combined sales of mini-trucks, mini-vans and passenger mini-cars touched 1.97 million vehicles, up 16.8 per cent from a year ago and the second highest on record, accounting for around 40 per cent of the 5.21 million automobiles sold in the country in the year.

Non-mini sales were also up, by 5.7 per cent year-on-year, helped by green car subsidies, though the share of minis in total sales contributed to a growth seen over the past two decades.

The size criteria for mini-vehicles are set at 3.4 metres or less in length, 2.0 metres or shorter in height and 1.48 metres or narrower in width.

According to industry experts, the small size of mini-vehicles, which led Japan's motorisation in the late 1950s to 1970s, meant they had little appeal outside of Japan.

Meanwhile, Japan's domestic sales of new cars, trucks and buses declined 15.6 per cent from a year earlier in March, in the seventh straight month of decline, as demand weakened from the previous year, after government subsidies for fuel-efficient cars expired, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.

The association said, total sales stood at 420,069 vehicles in March.

The number of autos sold, as measured by registrations of vehicles with the government, is referred by economists since they are the first consumer-spending numbers released each month.

For the fiscal year ended March, sales grew 5.7 per cent to 3.24 million vehicles in the second straight year of gain.

The figures did not include sales of mini cars and trucks, ina market where overall passenger car sales were down 16.7 per cent to 369,703 vehicles in the absence of government subsidies for low-emission vehicles.

Truck sales were down 6.7 per cent to 48,282 units, those of buses while those of buses were 15.8 per cent at 2,084.

Of the country's top three auto makers, Honda Motor Co reported the largest percentage fall in the month with a decline of 36.3 per cent, which was followed by Nissan Motor Co Toyota Motor Corp came in third, with March sales falling 16.3 per cent to 189,152 vehicles.