TOKYO–Japan’s domestic sales of new cars, trucks and buses climbed 14.5% from a year earlier in March, rising for the seventh straight month as consumers rushed to make last-minute purchases of vehicles ahead of the April 1 sales tax hike.
Sales totaled 481,039 vehicles in March, up from 420,069 in the same month a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday.
Toyota Motor Corp. sold 209,092 Toyota brand vehicles in March, up 10.5% from a year earlier, with sales of its Lexus upscale vehicles totaling 6,470, up 29.9%. Nissan Motor Co.’s sales fell 0.1% to 67,718 vehicles, while Honda Motor Co. registered a 42.1% rise in sales to 60,930 units.
With the latest monthly figures counted, domestic sales of new cars, trucks and buses grew 5.9% to 3.43 million vehicles in the fiscal year ended March, stretching the on-year gain to three business years in a row.
Auto sales, as measured by registrations of vehicles with the government, are monitored by economists since they are the first consumer spending numbers released each month.
The figures don’t include sales of mini cars and trucks.
