New auto sales rise in 2010 for 1st time in 6 years+

TOKYO, Jan. 5 Kyodo - Domestic sales of new vehicles including minicars in 2010 logged the first year-on-year increase in six years thanks to government subsidies and tax breaks for the purchase of eco-friendly cars, industry bodies said Wednesday.

Overall sales of new vehicles in 2010 rose 7.5 percent from the previous year
to 4,956,136 units, but the level was nearly 40 percent lower than the peak of
7,777,493 units in 1990, according to data released by the Japan Automobile
Dealers Association and the Japan Mini Vehicles Association.
A JADA official said a decline in sales following the termination of the
government's subsidy program in September has ''become serious and it remains
unclear how long it will continue.''
Yonosuke Iwata, an economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said any
recovery in vehicle sales is expected to be mild, citing weak consumer
sentiment data.
Of the total for 2010, sales of vehicles with engine displacements of over 660
cc increased 10.6 percent to 3,229,716 units, while sales of smaller vehicles
rose 2.3 percent to 1,726,420 units.
Toyota Motor Corp. saw its new vehicle sales increase 13.8 percent to 1,531,722
units, and other automakers also posted sales growth in 2010.
In December alone, sales of cars, trucks and buses in Japan plunged 28.3
percent from a year earlier to 179,666 units, representing the sharpest drop
for the month of December since records began in 1968.
It was also the third consecutive month that the figure marked the sharpest
year-on-year decline.
Sales of minivehicles in December dropped 11.4 percent from the same month a
year earlier to 108,185 units, posting the third consecutive year-on-year
decline. The figure was also down 10.1 percent from November.
The tax breaks will continue until the spring of 2012.
==Kyodo