Toyota, Honda lead rise in Japan's Dec auto sales

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

Sales of cars, trucks and buses, excluding minicars, rose 37 percent to 250,474 vehicles in December from a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement today. Toyota sold 115,467 units, excluding Lexus-brand cars, up 52 percent.

Japan's Auto sales began recovering from a yearlong slide in August, after government rebates and tax cuts for fuel- efficient vehicles helped rekindle demand. U.S. auto sales may also post a second straight gain in December according to the average estimate of eight analysts in a Bloomberg survey, signaling a recovery this year.

December Japan sales jumped 97 percent at Honda, while Nissan Motor Co., the nation's third-largest automaker, sold 16 percent more vehicles.

Under a government program that began in June, consumers in Japan can apply for a 250,000 yen ($2,716) 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 the older vehicle. The subsidies are available retroactively for purchases from April 10.

Extended Incentives

The government last month extended the program, which was set to expire at the end of March, for six months.

Electric, hybrid, natural-gas, and some diesel vehicles also qualify for an exemption from the country's weight and purchase taxes. The incentives helped boost sales in 2009 by about 600,000 vehicles and may increase sales by about 900,000 this year, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Dec. 24.

Japan's vehicle sales may rise 4.1 percent to 4.8 million units in 2010, the automakers group said.