Domestic sales of new vehicles, excluding minivehicles, dropped 3.4 percent in October from the year before to 281,452 units, a 34-year low for the month and the fourth consecutive monthly fall, an industry body said Tuesday.

It was the first time October sales have fallen below 290,000 units since 1971, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

"This figure was unexpected, especially because we had expected the Tokyo Motor Show to cause a year-on-year sales rise," an association official said. The auto event began in late October.

"It hangs in the balance whether dealers will be able to bring this year's sales above the 3.96 million units they sold in all of 2004," the official said.

By type, sales of cars with engine displacements of 2,000cc or more slipped 7.6 percent in the reporting month to 86,538 units.

In addition, sales of cars with engines of between 600cc and 2,000cc -- a crucial segment for dealers -- fell 3.5 percent to 152,509 units.

Sales of trucks rose 6.4 percent to 41,270 units and those of buses soared 31.8 percent to 1,135 units.

Association officials attributed the sluggish performance to higher gasoline prices as well as the dissipation of the boost to sales given by the release of a string of new models in the latter half of 2004.

Sales of Toyota Motor Corp.'s recently introduced high-end Lexus cars remained spirited at 2,985 units.

Meanwhile, domestic sales of new minivehicles rose 8.4 percent in October to 146,033 units for the seventh consecutive month of increase.