Reflecting the continuing sluggish sales after the consumption tax hike in April, domestic auto sales posted double-digit decline in July from a year ago, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said August 1.
Total domestic sales of vehicles dropped 10.1 percent to 471,623 units in July from a year ago for the fourth consecutive month since April, officials of JADA said. "The negative impact by the consumption tax increase has been continuing for much longer than automakers had previously predicted," a JADA official said. "Their sales strategies that targeted this year's bonus season (in July) did not work," he said.
Sales of passenger cars declined 11.4 percent to 325,488 units in July from the same period last year. Sales of cars with engine displacement of more than 2,000cc dropped 6.9 percent to 75,150 units, while sales of cars with smaller engines declined 12.7 percent to 250,338 units. All automakers except Daihatsu Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Co. suffered from a decline in sales.