Prius is Top Seller in Japan for 11 Months Straight

The Japan Automobile Dealers Association noted the Prius was once again the top selling car in Japan. Helped by government incentives, the Prius has been and will continue to be the top selling car for months.

Toyota sold 35,546 units in March. That's 11 months in a row the Prius has held the top spot, which was briefly held by the Honda Insight before the third generation Prius came to market.

Sales have quadrupled in Japan this year. Toyota has sold over a quarter of a million units so far (277,485)

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Prius is on Top of Sales Charts in Japan Despite Recall

Not surprisingly, the Toyota Prius  was still Japan's number one selling car, despite recall and some cancellations from concerned customers.

Over 27,000 units were sold in February, which handily beat out the second best selling car in Japan, the Honda Fit, which sold 14,000 units.

The incentives offered on hybrids and other low consumption vehicles has kept the sales fever high in Japan for months, which has create a huge waiting list (over six months) for the Toyota Prius.  And so, even though the recall has affected the perception of Toyota and their safety, sales of the Prius have not been affected as the cars being delivered now were sold months ago.

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Honda CR-Z Hybrid Price in Japan

The Honda CR-Z is now available in Japan for 2.27 million (a little over $25,000 US). The two seater hybrid will be available in the US in the late summer.

According to edmunds, Honda had 4,500 pre-sales, and has targeted around 1,000 a month for the sporty hybrid.

I'm curious to see how well it will do in the long run. The last time Honda sold a 'power' hybrid, rather than a fuel efficient first hybrid, sales didn't go well once other options became available (see the Honda Accord hybrid). Sales of the current Insight haven't been stellar, either. But you can blame that on price cutting by Toyota on the Prius, the bad economy and gas prices remaining fairly stable (although they are creeping up again).

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Prius Top Seller in Japan for 2009

The Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JAMA) is reporting the Prius has continued its hot streak in Japan. In fact, it's the number one car in Japan for 2009, the first time a hybrid has taken the title.

JAMA is reporting Toyota sold 208,876 Prius in 2009, which is almost 3X as many as they sold last year. Sales have been pushed by a government incentive program. The incentives add up as much as 294,500 yen (just over $4 thousand) on a car that can cost between 2.05 million to 3.27 million yen depending on the options drivers want.

According to a Business Week source, Toyota makes about 200,000 yen off of each Prius it sells. Although that's less profit than they would make on a Crown (1 million yen) or the Lexus LS (2 million yen).

The government incentive program is set to end on September 30.

Ever since the third generation Prius launched in Japan, it has topped the sales charts.   And it has stayed there despite the very long waiting list.  If you order a Prius today in Japan, you won't get it for months.  And so, because of the long waiting lists, the Prius has a very good chance of becoming the top selling car in Japan for 2010, too.

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Prius Tops in Japan Again

The Toyota Prius outsold the competition in Japan once again. Toyota sold 26,817 units last month, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. Total passenger car sales for the month were 268,450 units (Via GCC who has a great graph of Prius sales before and after the incentives kicked in). Which means almost 10% of all passenger cars sold in Japan in November came with a Prius nameplate.
The Honda Insight came in fifth, overall, at 9,413 units sold. Together, that means the Insight and Prius accounted for 13.5% of new vehicle sales in November.

With the new Toyota SAI coming out, hybrids sales should continue to rise. Toyota already has 14,000 pre-orders for the SAI since its unveiling in October.

Incentives and subsidies from the government have been putting hybrids front and center in Japan. With the backlog in orders, the Toyota Prius should continue to dominate new car sales in Japan for another half a year at least.

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Toyota Lowers HS 250h Expectations

Toyota told Ward's auto they were dropping their annual sales goals for the HS 250h in the US from it's current 25,000 units a year to 20,000 - 22,000. And not because the US is rejecting the HS 250h, either.

Instead, sales are going so well in Japan Toyota is keeping inventory there, instead.

Toyota started out by targeting 30,000 units a year, but dropped to 25,000.  Now they are redirecting another 3,000 to 5,000 units elsewhere.  They also tripled production of the HS 250h back in October.

Japan's policy for encouraging hybrid sales is certainly doing just that.

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Prius Up 420 Percent in Japan

The Toyota Prius once again dominated sales in Japan for the month of October, up 420 percent from last year when sales were declining in anticipation of the third generation Prius.

The Japanese Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Mini Vehicles Association reported Toyota sold 26,918 units. The Honda Fit came in second, with 15,444 units sold, followed by the Suzuki WagonR minivehicle. The Honda Insight, which was number one on the sales list the month before the third generation Prius came to market, dropped below the top 3.

Sales of hybrids have soared in the past months with the Japanese government offering tax breaks and subsidies. This has caused some stress for minivehicles, which are less expensive and offer smaller savings.

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