Domestic sales of new cars, trucks and buses rose 0.5 percent in July on a year-on-year basis to 369,664 units, up for the third straight month, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday.
The association attributed the rise to brisk sales of larger trucks.
By category, sales of cars with engine displacements of more than 2,000cc, rose 3.4 percent to 63,191 units, up for the seventh consecutive month. But sales of smaller cars fell 0.8 percent to 226,930 units, down for the fourth straight month.
Sales of trucks with load capacity of 3 tons or more surged 53.7 percent to 8,809 units, up for the seventh straight month, as more and more users replaced their old trucks with new ones in order to cope with tougher regulations on exhaust gas emissions from diesel vehicles, the association said.