Japanese sales of domestic passenger electric vehicles (EVs) in the first half of the year fell sharply from the same period a year earlier.
Sales totalled 29,282 units during January-June, down by 39pc on the year, according to preliminary data from industry group the Automobile Dealers Association, the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association and the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA).
The share of EVs in the total passenger vehicles sales was 1.6pc, down by 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
The sharp fall is mostly attributed to a decline in light passenger EV sales, which fell by 45pc on the year to 13,540 units. This is largely because the sales of Nissan's Sakura, one of the top-selling models in the market with a share of around 90pc, fell to 12,082 units, down by 38pc from a year earlier.
Light cars are defined as vehicles with a length, height and width of less than 3.4m, 2m and 1.48m respectively and an engine capacity below 0.66 litres, which is the Japanese standard.
Sales of ordinary passenger EVs also fell to 15,742 units, down by 31pc from a year earlier. The rate of decline was lower than that of light passenger EVs because of imported passenger EVs, for which sales increased by 16pc on the year to 10,689 units. Foreign EVs account for around 68pc of ordinary passenger EV sales.
Foreign brands are dominating Japan's EV market by "offering wider variety of models than domestic manufacturers," according to a representative of JAIA that spoke to Argus. BMW in June introduced its MINI's EV model to the Japanese market, but the sales volume was undisclosed.
Domestic EV sales in June totalled 5,010 units, down by 37pc, marking eight consecutive months of year-on-year declines.
