Honda Motor Co.'s Fit compact fell to third in February's ranking of new car sales by model as a nearly three-week suspension of shipments prompted by a recall of the hybrid model caused sales to drop, industry sources said Monday.
While many automakers are enjoying strong demand ahead of the consumption tax rate hike in April, the decline in Fit sales dealt a blow to Honda as the model had been the best-selling car in Japan for four consecutive months through January.
Sales of the Fit had been strong since a fully renovated model hit the market in September. Honda sold about 22,000 to 26,000 Fits monthly from October through January, but the figure dropped to around 18,000 in February due to suspended shipments.
Due to a transmission software problem in the Fit hybrid, Honda's Yorii plant in Saitama Prefecture and Suzuka plant in Mie Prefecture halted shipments between Feb. 7 and 26.
Production was also affected by a heavy snowfall in mid-February, which forced Honda to halt some of the Yorii plant's operations temporarily.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Aqua hybrid climbed to the top spot in February for the first time in five months, with sales of some 24,000 vehicles. The Aqua had been the second or third best-selling model since October. Toyota's Prius came in second for February, according to the sources.