“Why do Toyota cars dominate the top? Yaris”” and “”Corolla”” are the series combined! Two reasons for Toyota’s overwhelming victory in the registration ranking
Most of the top 10 are Toyota vehicles
Toyota cars are mostly lined up at the top of the compact/ordinary car sales (registrations) ranking announced by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association (Jidanren).
Toyota’s luxury minivan “”Alphard”” is selling well! The “”gold”” special model is too gorgeous!
In the first half of 2022 (January to June), the Yaris is in first place, followed by the Corolla in second, the Roomy in third, the Rise in fifth, the Alphard in seventh, and the Aqua in eighth, with the exception of the Nissan Note (including the Note Aura) in fourth place and the Honda Freed in sixth. Toyota cars dominate the list.
Toyota cars always dominate the top ranking.
There are multiple reasons and backgrounds for this. First, Toyota cars have models that publish the total number of registrations for the series.
The Yaris, which ranks first in terms of registrations, is the total of the Yaris compact car, the Yaris Cross SUV, and the GR Yaris sports model. The average monthly registrations of the Yaris in the first half of 2022 is approximately 13,600 units, of which approximately 6,800 units are Yaris Crosses, 6,000 Yaris are GR Yaris, and the rest are GR Yaris.
The Yaris Cross’ approximately 6,800 units are slightly below the 6th-place Freed’s approximately 7,300 units, and if the Yaris compact car and the Yaris Cross SUV were calculated separately, the Yaris would not rank first in the sales ranking.
The Corolla sales volume is the total of the Corolla sedan, Corolla Touring wagon, Corolla Sport hatchback, and Corolla Cross SUV, plus the continuously produced previous-generation 5-number Corolla Axio (sedan)/Corolla Fielder (wagon) models.
The average monthly registration volume for the entire Corolla series in the first half of 2022 is approximately 11,800 units. The Corolla Cross had the highest number of registrations by body type (monthly average) at approximately 5,300 units, followed by the Corolla Touring at approximately 2,300 units. The remaining 4200 units were shared by the other body types.
The number of Corolla Cross registrations is slightly below the Aqua’s approximately 5,700, meaning that the Corolla series also does not rank high in the sales rankings when registrations are calculated by body type.
And for many users, the Yaris, Yaris Cross, and Corolla Sedan/Corolla Touring/Corolla Cross are different cars. The models to compare when purchasing a Yaris would be the Note or Fit, while the Yaris Cross would be the Honda Vezel or Nissan Kicks.
Considering this, the ranking order of the Yaris as No. 1 and the Corolla as No. 2 in terms of registrations cannot be used as a reference for users when choosing a car.
If that is the case, what will be the No. 1 small/ordinary car in terms of registrations by body type?
In the first half of 2022, it registered an average of about 10,900 units per month. In addition, the Alphard (monthly average of approximately 5,800 units in the first half of 2022) and the Aqua (approximately 5,700 units) are other Toyota vehicles that are selling well.
In other words, Toyota cars remain at the top of the sales ranking in many cases.
Why do Toyota cars dominate the top ranking? The “”Yaris”” and “”Corolla”” are a combined series! Two reasons why Toyota dominates the registration ranking
Is it related to Toyota’s lack of focus on light vehicles?
The second reason why many Toyota vehicles are at the top of the sales ranking is that kei cars have seen a sharp increase in sales.
In the first half of 2022, mini cars accounted for 38% of domestic sales. Honda used to sell mainly compact/ordinary cars, but now mini cars account for 54% of its total domestic sales. Mitsubishi and Nissan also have 44% and 38% of their sales are light vehicles, respectively.
The Copen GR Sport, a light convertible car sold by Toyota
In the past, light cars were mainly sold by Daihatsu and Suzuki, but recently Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have also been putting their efforts into light cars, and the domestic sales ratio of light cars has reached 38%.
In this situation, Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru are the only manufacturers that do not focus on light cars, and small/ordinary cars are becoming Toyota’s domain.
In 1990, Toyota’s market share for compact/normal cars and mini cars combined was 32%, and it will remain unchanged at 32% in the first half of 2022 (including Lexus).
However, when limited to compact/normal cars, Toyota’s share was 42% in 1990, and will reach 50% in the first half of 2022.
As other manufacturers have focused on mini cars and reduced sales of compact and standard cars, Toyota’s share of compact and standard cars has relatively increased. As a result, Toyota’s share of the compact and standard car market has relatively increased.
And since Toyota basically does not deal in mini cars, except for some Daihatsu OEM vehicles, there is an abundance of compact cars that fit into the 5-number size range. These include the Yaris, Aqua, Roomy, Passo, Sienta, Rise, Corolla Axio, and Corolla Fielder. 5-number cars remain popular in Japan, and a large lineup of such cars will help increase total sales.
In this regard, Nissan’s only 5-number cars, excluding mini cars, are the Note, the standard body of the “”Serena”” and the “”NV200 Vanette Wagon. There was also the “”March,”” but its domestic sales ended at the end of August 2022.
Honda also has only the Fit, the Freed, and the Shuttle, which is no longer in production. Therefore, Toyota has a larger selection of 5-number cars than other manufacturers, which gives it an advantage in the small/ordinary car sales ranking.
On the other hand, manufacturers other than Toyota are left to sell mini cars and a small number of 5-number cars in Japan, while the rest are 3-number cars developed for overseas markets. This dependence on a few models for domestic sales has reduced the sales of compact/ordinary cars, resulting in Toyota’s sole dominance in the market.
Another difference is the number of dealerships. Toyota has approximately 4,600 dealerships nationwide, while Nissan has less than 2,100 and Honda has less than 2,200. Toyota’s sales network is more than twice that of Nissan and Honda, so it is easy to increase sales.
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There are various reasons why Toyota cars occupy the top of the domestic sales ranking.
In particular, the fact that manufacturers other than Toyota, with the exception of Daihatsu and Suzuki, have turned their attention overseas and become passive in the domestic market, resulting in fewer products that resonate with Japanese users, is a major reason for the strong sales of Toyota vehicles.
However, this does not mean that Toyota will continue to be a safe bet. While the Roomy, Rise, and Alphard are selling well, the average monthly registration of the Crown in the first half of 2022 (hereafter referred to as “”Crown””) is stagnant at about 1,400 units, which is why the new Crown Crossover has changed its appearance to an SUV while maintaining its sedan body.
The C-HR, Corolla sedan, and Camry are also polarizing in terms of sales among Toyota vehicles, with the C-HR selling approximately 1,200 units, the Corolla sedan selling approximately 900 units, and the Camry selling approximately 500 units.
Since Toyota has now shifted to a sales structure in which all dealers handle all vehicles, popular cars will sell well at all dealers. In the future, then, it may be narrowed down to a small number of best-selling models, as is the case with Nissan and Honda.
In the future, Toyota will also need to take on the challenge of promoting upsizing sales, for example, switching from the Yaris Cross to the Corolla Cross and then to the RAV4. We look forward to Toyota’s new sales approach.”
