H. Yoo
Research expert covering South Korea
Passenger car market in Japan - statistics & facts
The automobile manufacturing industry is a pivotal part of Japan's economy, and passenger cars are its most important segment. Most new vehicle registrations in Japan are passenger cars of domestic brands like Toyota, Suzuki, Daihatsu, or Nissan. While several million passenger car exports accounted for more than half of domestic production, imports stayed within hundreds of thousands in the last few years. Meanwhile, Japanese production overseas has surpassed domestic production. Despite the growing significance of the foreign market, the domestic market has always played an important role for Japanese carmakers, reacting to domestic demands with small, affordable models that have low fuel consumption. Core industry technologies are hybrid-electric engines, as well as safety and autonomous driving systems.
