Sales of imported foreign-brand vehicles in Japan in 2024 fell 8.5% from a year earlier to 227,202 units, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Thursday.
The decrease was apparently because of Houthis attacks on ships that disrupted commercial shipping and rising materials costs that sent vehicle prices higher.
Sales of foreign-brand vehicles priced lower than ¥4 million plunged 28.6%, while sales of those priced between ¥4 million and less than ¥10 million dipped 2.2%. Sales of those priced at ¥10 million or higher, such as Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini vehicles, climbed 5.8%.
Sales of electric vehicles expanded 5.7% to 24,198 units, or 10.7% of the total, up 1.5 percentage points. "Automakers including BMW and BYD in addition to Tesla offered a wide variety of models to meet consumer demand," an association official said.
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