Toyota, Honda lead rise in Japan's Jan vehicle sales

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

Sales of cars, trucks and buses, excluding minicars, rose 37 percent from a year earlier to 238,362 vehicles in January, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement today. Toyota boosted sales to 117,154 vehicles, excluding Lexus-brand cars. The company's recent recalls of vehicles for faulty accelerator pedals don't include models sold in Japan.

Japan's auto sales began recovering from a yearlong slide in August as government rebates and tax cuts for fuel-efficient vehicles helped rekindle demand. The incentives helped raise sales by about 600,000 vehicles last year and may increase them by about 900,000 this year, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said on Dec. 24.

Domestic sales rose 65 percent at Honda in January, while Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-largest automaker, sold 24 percent more vehicles.

Under a government program that began 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 older vehicle. The subsidies are available retroactively for purchases from April 10. The government has extended the program, which was initially set to expire at the end of March, for six months until September.

Electric, hybrid, natural-gas, and some diesel vehicles also qualify for an exemption from the country's weight and purchase taxes.

Japan's vehicle sales may rise 4.1 percent to 4.8 million units in 2010, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.