The Japanese passenger car market is down 6.2% in 2022 compared to 2021
- Japan's passenger car market fell again in 2022, the fifth consecutive decline since 2018. The decline reached 6.2% in 2022 compared to 2021, -3.5% in 2021 compared to 2020 and -11.4% in 2020 compared to 2019. In 2022, we fall back to the level of 2011, the weakest year of the decade for Japan.
- As for the other markets, the Japanese market seems to have suffered logistical problems linked to supply shortages, but this decline could also be explained by the aging of the population and the lower interest of consumers in acquiring a new vehicle, because the Japanese market has not only stopped growing for decades, but has been in constant decline.
- In 2022, 3.5 million passenger cars were therefore sold in Japan, 93% of which were local brands, as Japan still remaining a very closed country in terms of imports (only 7% of the market, a figure that does not vary not for several decades). It could be expected that the opening of imports to Japan could have instilled a new dynamism in the market, which could have stimulated the Japanese carmakers themselves. Until today, nothing is changing.
- In this context of a closed market, the Toyota group monopolizes 43% of the Japanese market, well ahead of its competitors Honda (16%), Suzuki (14%), Renault-Nissan (13%), Mazda (4%) and Subaru. (3%). One reason for Toyota's global leadership position is its strong position in its home market, where it sold 1.5 million passenger cars last year.