Japan’s Imported Automobile Sales in H1 2026

In the first half of 2026, new registrations of foreign brand vehicles in Japan fell 3.5% year-on-year (YoY) to 118,000 units, marking the first decline in two years. While Tesla saw a 2.7-fold surge, volume dropped for key high-volume models such as the VW Golf and T-Cross, Mercedes-Benz GLC, and BMW X1. As a result, the market share of foreign brands fell by 0.7 percentage points YoY to 5.0%. Conversely, imports of reverse-imported vehicles (Japanese brands’ overseas-manufactured models) jumped 38.1% YoY to 72,000 units, driving total import volume up 9.0% YoY to 190,000 units. Among Japanese brands, Suzuki’s reverse imports surged 90.7% to 34,000 units, and Toyota expanded 12.7-fold to 16,000 units, whereas Honda contracted 32.2% to 15,000 units.