The Toyota Prius hits its highest ranking in almost 4 years.
New vehicle sales in Japan lodge a fifth consecutive double-digit market gain in May at +25% To 326,730 units, leading to a year-to-date tally up 17% or 300,000 sales to 2,057,880. Brand leader Toyota (+31.8%) outpaces its home market to 33.7% share, while Suzuki (+10%) overtakes Daihatsu (+25.3%) to #2 despite a shy uptick. Honda (+15.2%), Nissan (+21.3%) and Mazda (+109.4%) camp on their April positions just as Lexus (+125.3%) scores the largest gain in the Top 10 once again. The premium brand ranks #7 year-to-date (+139.5%) vs. #12 over the Full Year 2022. Isuzu (+53.7%), Fuso (+52.1%), Land Rover (+110.2%) and Peugeot (+115.8%) also impress below.
In the regular car ranking, the Toyota Yaris/Cross (+2.5%) is rather timid this month but easily keeps the lead. In 2nd place and booted by the new generation, the Toyota Prius soars 376.2% year-on-year and is up two ranks on last month. This is the highest the Prius has been since August 2019. The Toyota Sienta (+113.7%) stays in third place ahead of the Toyota Corolla/Cross (-6.9%), with the Noah (+160.2%) and Voxy (+220.5%) ensuring the Top 6 is 100% Toyota. In fact, the carmaker places an astounding 9 nameplates in the Top 10: add the Roomy (-16.9%), Aqua (+91.4%) and Harrier (+94.3%). The odd one out is the Nissan Serena (+158.2%). Below, the Toyota Crown (+298.1%) also helped by a new model, the Lexus NX350H (+281.5%) and Nissan X-Trail (+386.6%) stand out.
Kei car-wise, the Honda N-BOX (+61.8%) holds onto the top spot and is even the most sold vehicle in the country this month, above the Toyota Yaris/Cross. The Daihatsu Tanto (+165.5%) shoots up year-on-year and remains in 2nd place above the Daihatsu Move (+35%) also in great shape. The Suzuki Spacia (-8.9%) and Wagon R (-4.1%) can’t catch up with the market growth with disappointing year-on-year losses. In fact the Daihatsu Taft (+39.1%) is the only additional Top 10 member to beat the market.
Previous month: Japan April 2023: New generation lifts Toyota Prius to highest in 3.5 years
One year ago: Japan May 2022: Mitsubishi, Honda Freed impress in 9th straight double-digit market drop (-18.1%)
Full May 2023 Top 54 All brands, Top 50 regular models and Top 35 All kei cars below.
Japan May 2023 – brands:
| Pos | Brand | May-23 | % | /22 | Apr | 2023 | % | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Toyota | 109,948 | 33.7% | 31.8% | 1 | 693,431 | 33.7% | 26.6% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Suzuki | 46,103 | 14.1% | 10.0% | 3 | 275,734 | 13.4% | 14.5% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Daihatsu | 41,928 | 12.8% | 25.3% | 2 | 270,083 | 13.1% | 18.5% | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Honda | 35,192 | 10.8% | 15.2% | 4 | 238,770 | 11.6% | -1.5% | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Nissan | 32,713 | 10.0% | 21.3% | 5 | 209,954 | 10.2% | 8.1% | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Mazda | 11,778 | 3.6% | 109.4% | 6 | 83,686 | 4.1% | 24.1% | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Lexus | 6,991 | 2.1% | 125.3% | 8 | 42,663 | 2.1% | 139.5% | 7 | 12 |
| 8 | Mitsubishi | 6,503 | 2.0% | 6.1% | 9 | 40,717 | 2.0% | 9.0% | 9 | 8 |
| 9 | Subaru | 6,399 | 2.0% | 33.1% | 7 | 42,601 | 2.1% | 11.2% | 8 | 7 |
| 10 | Isuzu | 4,048 | 1.2% | 53.7% | 10 | 27,065 | 1.3% | 72.4% | 10 | 10 |
| 11 | Mercedes | 3,901 | 1.2% | 2.1% | 11 | 20,593 | 1.0% | 2.6% | 11 | 9 |
| 12 | Hino | 2,849 | 0.9% | -5.7% | 12 | 16,555 | 0.8% | -24.4% | 12 | 11 |
| 13 | Mitsubishi Fuso | 2,815 | 0.9% | 52.1% | 13 | 14,297 | 0.7% | 32.5% | 13 | 15 |
| 14 | Volkswagen | 2,551 | 0.8% | 2.8% | 15 | 10,679 | 0.5% | -10.4% | 15 | 13 |
| 15 | BMW | 2,285 | 0.7% | 16.7% | 14 | 13,263 | 0.6% | 19.8% | 14 | 14 |
| 16 | Audi | 2,022 | 0.6% | 9.5% | 16 | 9,956 | 0.5% | 29.9% | 16 | 16 |
| 17 | Mini | 1,161 | 0.4% | -15.6% | 17 | 6,994 | 0.3% | -10.3% | 17 | 17 |
| 18 | Volvo | 1,114 | 0.3% | -8.0% | 19 | 6,264 | 0.3% | -4.8% | 18 | 18 |
| 19 | Jeep | 935 | 0.3% | 10.5% | 18 | 5,021 | 0.2% | 35.3% | 19 | 19 |
| 20 | UD Trucks | 764 | 0.2% | 9.8% | 21 | 4,134 | 0.2% | 14.5% | 20 | 20 |
| 21 | Land Rover | 742 | 0.2% | 110.2% | 20 | 3,495 | 0.2% | 86.1% | 22 | 26 |
| 22 | Porsche | 737 | 0.2% | 6.3% | 24 | 3,154 | 0.2% | -4.2% | 24 | 23 |
| 23 | Peugeot | 561 | 0.2% | 115.8% | 22 | 3,681 | 0.2% | 19.5% | 21 | 22 |
| 24 | Renault | 514 | 0.2% | -17.0% | 23 | 3,398 | 0.2% | 7.5% | 23 | 21 |
| 25 | Citroen | 411 | 0.1% | 40.3% | 25 | 2,494 | 0.1% | 18.7% | 25 | 25 |
| 26 | Fiat | 373 | 0.1% | -14.8% | 26 | 1,796 | 0.1% | -32.2% | 26 | 24 |
| 27 | Alfa Romeo | 187 | 0.1% | 53.3% | 35 | 716 | 0.0% | -1.2% | 27 | 28 |
| 28 | BYD | 141 | 0.0% | new | 29 | 484 | 0.0% | new | 29 | 48 |
| 29 | DS | 126 | 0.0% | 152.0% | 34 | 352 | 0.0% | 27.1% | 32 | 33 |
| 30 | Ferrari | 108 | 0.0% | -0.9% | 28 | 550 | 0.0% | -6.6% | 28 | 29 |
| 31 | Maserati | 85 | 0.0% | 4.9% | 33 | 397 | 0.0% | -12.4% | 31 | 30 |
| 32 | Abarth | 82 | 0.0% | -61.7% | 27 | 482 | 0.0% | -60.9% | 30 | 27 |
| 33 | Bentley | 56 | 0.0% | 7.7% | 31 | 208 | 0.0% | 1.0% | 36 | 35 |
| 34 | Chevrolet | 54 | 0.0% | 38.5% | 30 | 334 | 0.0% | 20.6% | 33 | 34 |
| 35 | Alpina | 50 | 0.0% | 177.8% | 43 | 109 | 0.0% | -6.0% | 42 | 42 |
| 36 | Jaguar | 43 | 0.0% | -31.7% | 32 | 296 | 0.0% | -42.1% | 34 | 31 |
| 37 | Aston Martin | 41 | 0.0% | 51.9% | 37 | 190 | 0.0% | 18.8% | 38 | 40 |
| 38 | Scania | 35 | 0.0% | 34.6% | 39 | 144 | 0.0% | 20.0% | 40 | 41 |
| 39 | Ford | 29 | 0.0% | -12.1% | 38 | 134 | 0.0% | -33.7% | 41 | 39 |
| 40 | Cadillac | 27 | 0.0% | -67.1% | 36 | 263 | 0.0% | -25.3% | 35 | 32 |
| 41 | Lamborghini | 22 | 0.0% | -50.0% | 45 | 185 | 0.0% | -24.8% | 39 | 36 |
| 42 | Hyundai | 17 | 0.0% | 142.9% | 40 | 199 | 0.0% | 298.0% | 37 | 37 |
| 43 | Dodge | 17 | 0.0% | -46.9% | 44 | 108 | 0.0% | -50.5% | 43 | 38 |
| 44 | McLaren | 14 | 0.0% | 250.0% | 41 | 71 | 0.0% | 57.8% | 45 | 45 |
| 45 | Rolls-Royce | 9 | 0.0% | -72.7% | 42 | 85 | 0.0% | -22.7% | 44 | 43 |
| 46 | Pontiac | 5 | 0.0% | 150.0% | 50 | 9 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 48 | 52 |
| 47 | Lancia | 3 | 0.0% | n/a | – | 4 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 54 | 51 |
| 48 | Morgan | 2 | 0.0% | -50.0% | 46 | 16 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 46 | 49 |
| 49 | GMC | 2 | 0.0% | -33.3% | 49 | 9 | 0.0% | -50.0% | 49 | 46 |
| 50 | Lotus | 1 | 0.0% | -93.8% | 47 | 10 | 0.0% | -92.9% | 47 | 44 |
| 51 | Chrysler | 1 | 0.0% | -75.0% | – | 5 | 0.0% | -61.5% | 51 | 50 |
| 52 | MG | 1 | 0.0% | -50.0% | 48 | 5 | 0.0% | -16.7% | 52 | 53 |
| 53 | Unimog | 1 | 0.0% | n/a | – | 5 | 0.0% | n/a | 53 | 57 |
| 54 | Buick | 0 | 0.0% | n/a | – | 6 | 0.0% | 20.0% | 50 | 54 |
| – | Others | 233 | 0.1% | 870.8% | – | 2,031 | 0.1% | 31.2% | – | – |
Japan May 2023 – regular cars:
| Pos | Model | May-23 | /22 | Apr | 2023 | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Toyota Yaris/Cross | 12,714 | 2.5% | 1 | 79,711 | 16.4% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Toyota Prius | 9,233 | 376.2% | 4 | 37,827 | 125.7% | 9 | 20 |
| 3 | Toyota Sienta | 9,109 | 113.7% | 3 | 55,435 | 155.3% | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Toyota Corolla/Cross | 8,771 | -6.9% | 2 | 70,038 | 13.2% | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Toyota Noah | 7,077 | 160.2% | 7 | 40,458 | 109.2% | 6 | 11 |
| 6 | Toyota Voxy | 6,913 | 220.5% | 10 | 39,930 | 117.0% | 7 | 13 |
| 7 | Nissan Serena | 6,655 | 158.2% | 9 | 26,562 | 9.1% | 13 | 12 |
| 8 | Toyota Roomy | 6,405 | -16.9% | 5 | 43,204 | -25.2% | 5 | 4 |
| 9 | Toyota Aqua | 6,292 | 91.4% | 12 | 38,128 | 25.7% | 8 | 7 |
| 10 | Toyota Harrier | 6,193 | 94.3% | 8 | 36,947 | 89.1% | 10 | 18 |
| 11 | Honda Freed | 5,854 | -13.2% | 13 | 36,265 | -2.3% | 11 | 6 |
| 12 | Nissan Note | 5,585 | -15.7% | 6 | 49,560 | 2.8% | 4 | 3 |
| 13 | Toyota Raize | 5,205 | 42.5% | 11 | 27,441 | -31.4% | 12 | 5 |
| 14 | Toyota Land Cruiser W | 3,885 | 37.8% | 14 | 26,017 | 92.1% | 14 | 17 |
| 15 | Suzuki Solio | 3,292 | 47.5% | 16 | 23,282 | 62.9% | 17 | 15 |
| 16 | Toyota Crown | 3,125 | 298.1% | 18 | 19,626 | 146.6% | 19 | 31 |
| 17 | Honda Vezel | 3,109 | 22.4% | 19 | 19,151 | 1.3% | 20 | 14 |
| 18 | Honda Fit | 2,934 | -4.4% | 17 | 25,119 | 1.9% | 15 | 9 |
| 19 | Lexus NX350H | 2,125 | 281.5% | 21 | 14,633 | n/a | 23 | n/a |
| 20 | Suzuki Jimny Wagon | 2,097 | 92.4% | 28 | 11,120 | 48.4% | 29 | 30 |
| 21 | Nissan X-Trail | 2,068 | 386.6% | 31 | 11,431 | 171.3% | 28 | 29 |
| 22 | Toyota Passo | 2,014 | -1.7% | 24 | 15,240 | -3.4% | 21 | 19 |
| 23 | Toyota RAV4 | 1,950 | 7.6% | 23 | 22,881 | 78.7% | 18 | 22 |
| 24 | Suzuki Swift | 1,940 | 9.5% | 27 | 11,632 | 2.6% | 27 | 23 |
| 25 | Mazda CX-5 | 1,924 | 136.9% | 20 | 11,691 | -13.7% | 26 | 21 |
| 26 | Honda StepWGN | 1,732 | -14.5% | 22 | 13,135 | 45.4% | 24 | 16 |
| 27 | Subaru Impreza | 1,696 | -11.9% | 25 | 11,861 | 31.1% | 25 | 26 |
| 28 | Honda ZR-V | 1,567 | new | n/a | n/a | new | n/a | n/a |
| 29 | Toyota Alphard | 1,495 | -71.2% | 15 | 23,734 | -22.6% | 16 | 10 |
| 30 | Mazda2 | 1,434 | 71.3% | 30 | 9,479 | -3.5% | 30 | 25 |
| 31 | Mazda CX-30 | 1,358 | 392.0% | 36 | 8,821 | 30.6% | 32 | 34 |
| 32 | Nissan Ariya | 1,296 | 59.8% | 38 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 33 | Mazda CX-8 | 1,248 | 1045.0% | 33 | 7,145 | 9.0% | 35 | 39 |
| 34 | Lexus UX250H | 1,179 | 315.1% | 46 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 35 | Mitsubishi Delica D5 | 1,143 | 44.0% | 32 | 7,962 | 15.2% | 34 | 33 |
| 36 | Subaru Levorg | 1,111 | 497.3% | 39 | 6,197 | n/a | 36 | 35 |
| 37 | Toyota 86 | 1,025 | -35.9% | 40 | 5,199 | -31.5% | 44 | 37 |
| 38 | Daihatsu Rocky | 973 | -15.1% | 29 | 9,095 | -1.1% | 31 | 27 |
| 39 | Nissan Kicks | 912 | -24.0% | 37 | 5,782 | -49.4% | 39 | 28 |
| 40 | Mazda CX-60 | 897 | new | 26 | 14,709 | new | 22 | n/a |
| 41 | Subaru Forester | 894 | 14.2% | 34 | 8,182 | -23.4% | 33 | 24 |
| 42 | Lexus RX500H | 889 | new | 42 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 43 | Toyota Camry | 801 | 21.9% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 44 | Toyota C-HR | 792 | -36.3% | 48 | 6,094 | -0.6% | 37 | 42 |
| 45 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 744 | 96.8% | 43 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 50 |
| 46 | Suzuki Xbee | 738 | -43.7% | 44 | 5,951 | 24.3% | 38 | 41 |
| 47 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 683 | -59.5% | 41 | 5,479 | -21.3% | 41 | 32 |
| 48 | Toyota Hiace W | 680 | 7.1% | 47 | 4,790 | 32.9% | n/a | 46 |
| 49 | Mazda CX-3 | 617 | 124.4% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 48 |
| 50 | Daihatsu Thor | 579 | 15.3% | 49 | 5,197 | 12.3% | 45 | 43 |
| 50 | Subaru Legacy | 579 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 44 |
Japan May 2023 – kei cars:
| Pos | Model | May-23 | /22 | Apr | 2023 | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Honda N-BOX | 13,967 | 61.8% | 1 | 96,208 | 8.3% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Daihatsu Tanto | 11,208 | 165.5% | 2 | 65,513 | 70.5% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Daihatsu Move | 8,193 | 35.0% | 4 | 51,074 | 47.7% | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Suzuki Spacia | 7,901 | -8.9% | 3 | 51,035 | 31.2% | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Suzuki WagonR | 5,448 | -4.1% | 8 | 32,492 | -0.1% | 6 | 5 |
| 6 | Suzuki Alto | 5,397 | 20.9% | 5 | 30,645 | 6.1% | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | Suzuki Hustler | 5,145 | -5.5% | 9 | 27,280 | -6.9% | 8 | 7 |
| 8 | Daihatsu Mira | 4,877 | -2.8% | 6 | 27,076 | -10.0% | 10 | 9 |
| 9 | Daihatsu Taft | 3,898 | 39.1% | 7 | 27,135 | 11.1% | 9 | 10 |
| 10 | Nissan Roox | 3,747 | -35.3% | 10 | 34,681 | 12.6% | 5 | 6 |
| 11 | Suzuki Jimny | 3,170 | 10.0% | 11 | 16,154 | -10.0% | 13 | 13 |
| 12 | Nissan Sakura | 2,773 | 1457.9% | 12 | 16,353 | 9087.1% | 12 | 15 |
| 13 | Mitsubishi Delica Mini/eK | 2,513 | 14.9% | 18 | 11,096 | -10.5% | 15 | 14 |
| 14 | Nissan Dayz | 2,375 | -7.5% | 14 | 14,351 | -41.2% | 14 | 11 |
| 15 | Honda N-WGN | 2,269 | -4.6% | 13 | 17,960 | 0.9% | 11 | 12 |
| 16 | Suzuki Every Wagon | 1,339 | 58.5% | 16 | 8,788 | 61.6% | 16 | 18 |
| 17 | Toyota Pixis | 1,296 | 4.8% | 19 | 4,842 | -31.0% | 20 | 17 |
| 18 | Honda N-ONE | 1,268 | 38.6% | 15 | 7,720 | -10.7% | 17 | 16 |
| 19 | Daihatsu Cast | 1,074 | -6.4% | 17 | 6,770 | 22.6% | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | Mazda Flair Wagon | 942 | 25.4% | 20 | 5,391 | 49.3% | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | Mazda Flair Crossover | 480 | 5.7% | 27 | 2,235 | -11.3% | 24 | 22 |
| 22 | Mitsubishi eK Cross EV | 463 | new | 21 | 4,478 | new | 21 | 26 |
| 23 | Mazda Carol | 442 | 37.7% | 22 | 2,155 | 65.3% | 25 | 29 |
| 24 | Nissan NV100 Clipper Rio | 390 | 80.6% | 25 | 2,266 | 20.8% | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | Subaru Chiffon | 365 | 51.5% | 24 | 1,868 | 12.7% | 26 | 25 |
| 26 | Daihatsu Copen | 326 | 6.5% | 23 | 2,363 | 20.9% | 22 | 23 |
| 27 | Mazda Flair | 308 | -3.1% | 26 | 1,825 | -1.8% | 27 | 27 |
| 28 | Subaru Stella | 219 | -19.8% | 28 | 1,347 | 2.4% | 28 | 28 |
| 29 | Subaru Pleo | 150 | -37.0% | 29 | 990 | -26.2% | 29 | 30 |
| 30 | Toyota Copen GR Sport | 129 | -37.7% | 30 | 695 | -16.6% | 30 | 32 |
| 31 | Mazda Scrum Wagon | 90 | 4.7% | 31 | 527 | -3.5% | 31 | 33 |
| 32 | Mitsubishi Town Box | 46 | 21.1% | 32 | 218 | -4.0% | 32 | 35 |
| 33 | Toyota C+POD | 22 | -83.1% | 33 | 135 | -78.1% | 33 | 34 |
| 34 | Honda S660 | 0 | -100.0% | 34 | 4 | -99.8% | 34 | 31 |
| 35 | Daihatsu Wake | 0 | -100.0% | – | 3 | -99.9% | 35 | 21 |
Sources: JADA, JAIA, JMVA
