Sales of new foreign vehicles in Japan rose 1.7 percent to 303,920 units in fiscal 2017, accounting for a record-high 9.1 percent of the country's new-car sales excluding minicars, an industry body said Thursday.
While sales of foreign vehicles have been solid in the past few years, the fall in Japan's new-car sales last fiscal year — due to inspection scandals at major domestic automakers — helped push the ratio up, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said.
Sales of foreign vehicles in fiscal 2017 rose for the third consecutive year to reach the second-highest level behind fiscal 1996. Sales were buoyed by the popularity of diesel engine cars and sport utility vehicles, the JAIA said.