Japan’s new vehicle sales fall to 33-year low on higher gasoline prices
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008Sales of new vehicles in Japan slumped to the lowest level in 33 years in the year ended March 31 as higher gasoline prices turned off prospective buyers, according to data released by an industry group on Tuesday.
It was the fifth straight year of decline.
Sales of new cars, trucks and buses, excluding minivehicles, fell 4.5 percent to 3.43 million
units, the lowest since the year to March 1975 when sales stood at 3.34 million, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.
Car sales dropped 2.1 percent to 2.96 million, down for the fourth straight year, while sales of buses declined 10.1 percent to 15,315 and truck sales dropped 17.7 percent to 446,669 units.
Sales of trucks and buses were down for the second consecutive year.
Sales fell despite aggressive efforts by Japanese automakers to launch new models.
(more…)