Japanese domestic sales of passenger electric vehicles (EVs) increased in June from a year earlier, largely driven by strong demand for foreign brand EVs.
Sales totalled 5,507 units in June, up by around 10pc on the year and by 45.3pc on the month. This was according to data from three industry groups — the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association and the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA).
EV penetration remained modest, accounting for just 1.7pc of the country's total passenger car sales, largely unchanged from the same period last year.
The increase in sales was mostly fuelled by robust demand for foreign brand EVs. Deliveries of these EVs to the Japanese market jumped by over 50pc on the year to 3,653 units.
This marked the highest foreign EV sales in a single month, with year-on-year growth increasing for eight consecutive months since November 2024, a JAIA representative told Argus.
Foreign auto manufactures are expanding their offerings in Japan, introducing a wider variety of new EV models to the Japanese market, JAIA said.
Some of those models can compete with popular domestic EVs on price, it added.
Sales of domestic brand EVs in Japan remained sluggish, with seven out of eight major manufacturers reporting a fall in deliveries — Subaru being the exception.
