Sales of automobiles built overseas rose 2.5 percent in fiscal 2002 from the previous year to 279,381 units, marking the first increase in two years, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Friday.
The association attributed the increase to the introduction of more compact models and brisk sales of cars manufactured at Japanese plants overseas.
Sales of vehicles made at factories abroad by Japanese makers leaped 44.6 percent from fiscal 2001 to 20,062 units, the first increase in seven years, with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. promoting their imports to effectively extend model lineups, the association said.
Sales of imported vehicles made by foreign makers rose 0.2 percent to 259,319 units, up for the forth consecutive year.
The most popular imported cars in fiscal 2002 were Volkswagen models, with 59,294 sold, followed by Mercedes-Benz at 48,854 and BMW at 35,670.
In March, sales of imported cars rose 3.9 percent from the same month last year to 36,658, up for the fourth straight month, due to fiscal yearend sales campaigns, the association said.
Imported cars made by foreign makers dropped 2 percent to 32,759 units, but sales of imported vehicles made overseas by Japanese carmakers more than doubled to 3,899.