February sales of new cars rise 2.4%

February saw 371,482 new cars sold, up 2.4 percent from February last year, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday.

While sales of cars with engine displacements of over 2,000cc saw a 5.1 percent decrease to 63,819 units, cars with an engine size between 661cc and 2,000cc rose 3.1 percent to 206,656 units, it said.

Toyota's Corolla took the largest share, at 21,009 units, up 69.1 percent from the previous year, taking the position for six straight months. Toyota cars accounted for six of the top 10 cars sold in February.

Commercial vehicle sales rose 6.3 percent to 99,630 units, while new buses were down 5.1 percent to 1,377 units, it said.

Import car sales drop

Import car sales in February fell 1.1 percent from a year before to 21,054 units, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Tuesday.

The figure includes 19,824 foreign-brand vehicles, up 0.2 percent, and 1,230 Japanese vehicles manufactured overseas, down 17.7 percent.

By brand, Volkswagen took the largest share of the import market, at 26.81 percent, and sales of 5,645 units, up 21.2 percent. Mercedes-Benz came second with 17.75 percent and 3,737, up 8.7 percent, followed by BMW with 11.45 percent and 2,411, down 7.6 percent.