Sales of used motor vehicles in Japan totaled 5,353,520 units in fiscal 2003, down 0.1 percent from the previous year, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.

The figure also marks a third straight yearly fall, the association said.

The association attributed the fall primarily to weakness in sales of small cars; overall car sales declined 0.9 percent.

Truck sales meanwhile grew 6.4 percent on repurchase demand stirred by the October introduction of tighter controls on diesel-vehicle emissions.