Japan's imported vehicle sales sink 20.6% in May

Sales of imported motor vehicles in Japan, including those made by Japanese carmakers overseas, slumped 20.6% in May from a year earlier to 12,547 units for the 13th straight monthly fall, an industry group said Thursday.

The rate of decline narrowed from 30.5 percent in April because dealers devised fresh sales promotion strategies in line with a new government policy of providing a 250,000-yen subsidy to consumers replacing their old cars with eco-friendly ones, said an official at the Japan Automobile Importers Association.