Toyota Prius Reclaims Top Sales Spot In Japan

Japanese auto makers are getting their groove back as domestic sales rebounded in the month of June, a welcome harbinger that the post-March 11 slump may be nearing an end. But the leap was especially sweet for Toyota Motor Corp., as the Prius reclaimed the crown as the best-selling vehicle in Japan for the month of June.

Toyota sold 19,429 Prius vehicles in June, triple the figure it sold the previous month and enough to zip past Honda Motor Co.’s Fit in monthly sales for the first time in four months, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association on Wednesday. Honda sold 16,321 Fit compacts in June, reported The Wall Street Journal.

It was a marked improvement for both auto makers after sales took a nosedive following the March 11 natural disasters. Crucial parts became scarce when the earthquake-triggered tsunami slammed into key factories, disrupting the supply chain that significantly pared production output. A scant 4,876 Prius vehicles were sold in April, just a quarter of the number compared to the previous month. Sales of the Fit sank to about 8,500, or about 40 percent compared with March. But the two giants expect production to recover this summer.

The Prius and the Fit have been the top two selling vehicles in Japan since May of 2009 when the Prius debuted, except for last month when Toyota’s Vitz nudged the Prius down to No. 3.

With signs that business is returning to normal, the show must go on. The auto makers launched much-anticipated versions of their princely hybrids in recent months. In May, Japan got a Prius minivan in the Alpha and a month later Honda launched the Shuttle, the wagon version of the Fit. As the only two hybrid wagon type vehicles on the market, they are destined to be rivals. The Alpha and the Shuttle are slated to be launched globally later this year.

The orders poured in: Toyota received 52,000 for the Alpha in a month’s time and Honda’s Shuttle collected 12,000 in less than two weeks. But in terms of sales, Honda has been able to get more Fits off the lot. Honda sold 4,555 Shuttle wagons, comprising about 28 percent of number of Fits. Meanwhile, 2,929 Alphas left showrooms in Japan last month.