Honda Motor Co. has become Japan's No. 2 automaker, overwhelming Nissan Motor Co. in domestic sales for the first time in a calendar year, according to statistics released Friday by two industry bodies.
Honda sold 754,818 vehicles in 2000, up 9.8 percent from the previous year. Nissan sold 729,737 vehicles, down 5.7 percent, the surveys by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Mini Vehicles Association show.
Nissan does not sell minivehicles, which have engines of up to 660cc and account for some 30 percent of Japan's domestic auto sales. But sales of those vehicles by Honda were favorable.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. sold 1,763,595 vehicles, up 6.5 percent, easily retaining its top position.
Overall domestic automobile sales increased 1.7 percent to 5,969,903 vehicles, with sales excluding minivans rising 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 4,095,117, marking the first upturn in four years.
Despite the overall gain, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. sales were down 7 percent to 543,360 vehicles, taking a hammering from the coverup of defective vehicle recalls.