Japan’s domestic new vehicle market expanded by 9.1% year-on-year to 373,952 units in April 2026, following a 10% rise to 342,878 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
The market was lifted by a 33% surge in light truck sales, while passenger vehicles sales fell by 2.3%
Light truck sales last month benefited from a recent surge in factory activity in the country, while deliveries also rebounded following previous disruptions to production operations. Japan’s overall vehicle market remains sluggish, reflecting slow economic growth in the country amid weak consumer sentiment, following interest rate hikes by the central bank and other rising cost-of-living pressures. The latest GDP data showed that growth slowed to 0.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting mainly a slowdown in private consumption growth.
In the first four months of the year, vehicle sales declined slightly to 1,627,309 units after rising by over 13% to 1,285,352 a year earlier, with passenger vehicle sales falling by 2.3% to 1,358,754 units, while truck sales rose by over 13% to 264,497 units, led by a 21% surge in light truck sales to 79,817 units. Sales of medium and large buses and coaches declined by over 7% to 4,058 units following strong growth in previous years. Toyota led the market with a 1% sales rise to 509,985 units year-to-date, with a 2.8% decline in passenger vehicle sales offset by a strong surge in commercial vehicle sales, while its Daihatsu subsidiary continued to recover from earlier production stoppages, with sales surging by over 13% to 197,053 units, driven by a 30% rise in truck sales.