Toyota, Honda lead Japan's Nov auto sales

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., Japan's two biggest automakers, led the fourth straight increase in the nation's monthly auto sales as government incentives boosted demand.

Sales of cars, trucks and buses, excluding minicars, rose 36 percent to 293,410 vehicles in November from a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement today. Toyota sold 147,513 units, excluding Lexus-brand cars, up 39 percent.

Japan's auto sales have recovered since August on government subsidies for fuel-efficient vehicles such as Toyota's Prius and Honda's Insight hybrid cars. The comparison with last year is also favorable because consumer spending plummeted following the September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

"Sales last year fell at increasingly faster rates after Lehman collapsed in September, so the year-on-year comparisons will continue to be very positive," said Yoshiaki Kawano, a Tokyo-based analyst at auto consulting company CSM Worldwide. "Carmakers are also focusing their efforts on expanding their lineup of models eligible for the incentive programs" in Japan.

November sales jumped 73 percent at Honda, while Nissan Motor Co., the nation's third-largest automaker, sold 33 percent more vehicles.

Subsidies

Under a Japanese government program started in June, consumers can apply for a 250,000 yen ($2,800) subsidy if they scrap a car more than 13 years old to buy a new one, and 100,000 yen for a new car purchased without scrapping an old one. The subsidies are available retroactively for purchases from April 10.

While the program is due to expire at the end of March, it's likely that it will be extended for an extra six months, Kawano said.