Japan’s new vehicle sales in August fell by 16pc to 326,436 units from the year prior according to data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
In the second quarter, auto sales fell by more than 32pc as the market struggled with low demand from domestic consumers. COVID-19 has hurt the Japanese economy with GDP down by 28pc in Q2 after shrinking by 3.4pc in Q1. GDP contracted in the first half of 2020 on the back of severely low consumption and declining exports.
In Jan-Aug period, vehicle sales dropped by 19pc to 2,930,558 units from the prior year period. Passenger car sales slipped by 18.6pc to 2,427,099 units in the first eight months. In the same period, truck sales declined by 18.5pc to 496,356 units and sales of bus fell by 27.5pc to 7,103 units.
Toyota sold the most cars in Japan from Jan-Aug with 911,973 units, however, down by 14pc from the prior year. Honda reported a 22.3pc decline to 409,183 units, down 22pc from the previous year. Imported car sales fell to 15.2pc to 18,243 units in August and down 22pc to 151,414 units from Jan-Aug.