Sales of cars, trucks and buses fell 5.9 percent in February from a year earlier to 349,603 units, marking the sixth consecutive month of decline, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday.
The figures exclude minivehicles, which have engines of up to 660cc, and specialty vehicles such as trailers.
Overall car sales rose 0.3 percent to 271,309 units. Sales of cars with engines of more than 2,000cc were down 10.4 percent to 57,210, while sales of smaller cars were up 3.6 percent to 214,099.
Truck sales declined 22.8 percent from a year earlier to 76,869, but sales of buses rose 3.5 percent to 1,425.
By maker, Toyota Motor Corp. remained the top seller, with 152,474 sold, but posted a 6.1 percent decline from a year earlier. Nissan Motor Co. ranked second with sales of 68,315, down 8.6 percent.
Honda Motor Co. ranked third, with sales of 51,465, up 30.8 percent.
Meanwhile, sales of minivehicles rose 1.5 percent in February from a year earlier to 167,390 units, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said.
Suzuki Motor Corp. topped the minivehicle list with sales of 50,914, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.
Daihatsu Motor Co., a Toyota subsidiary, ranked second with sales of 47,184, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Honda with 27,274 sold, up 0.8 percent.