Hybrids 19.7% of New Cars Sold in May 2012 in Japan

19.7% of new cars sold in Japan in May 2012 were hybrid cars, up 11 percentage points from last year. There were no surprises that it was the Prius leading the field with 20,789 units sold, but the Aqua (Prius C overseas) was snapping at its heels in second place for the second month running with 20,091 units sold. Could it be that the Prius could be dethroned in the coming months by the Aqua?

Looking at the different manufacturers, hybrid sales make up 25% of Honda sales in Japan, and a whopping 46% of Toyota sales. Honda’s percentage has actually dropped a little thanks to the success of its kei car minivan, the NBOX.

And talking of kei cars, these now make up 4 tenths of new car sales in Japan, with 6 of May’s top ten best selling models being keis.

Source: Nikkei (Japanese-only)