Japanese Car Makers Honda and Toyota Leading The Pack In Sales Gains Once Again

Good news out of Detroit today: with top market research sites Edmunds.com and TrueCar.com forecasting the new-vehicles sales report for September 2012 (which is coming out today), it looks like September was a banner month for top Japanese-made cars. While the overall numbers are right around 1.1 million cars and light trucks (up 11% from September 2011), the Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company are expected to be making up most of the huge gains.

Toyota in particular saw a very sharp spike in sales as the forecasts are showing a 33% increase in September sales. Honda isn’t too far behind in the gains department with marketing forecasters showing a 27% rise in sales for the month of September.

Japan’s Numbers Higher Than Detroit Automakers

This is welcome news for the Japanese automakers who were reeling from the earthquake in March of 2011 that put a halt to productions. Even after the manufacturing plants got up and running again, the disruptions that occurred still hurt sales.

But even with that explanation as to why last year’s numbers were so low, taking a look at some of the automakers out of Detroit shows that it’s not just the earthquake that shook up last year’s sales of Japanese cars; American-made cars are just not selling as well as Japanese-made autos. TrueCar.com is predicting the Ford Motor Company to report a 1.3% rise and General Motors to report a 2.5% jump. Doing slightly better than their competition, the Chrysler Group LLC are predicted to report an 8% increase. That’s a substantial lead that the Japanese automakers have in gains, one that can’t be explained by the earthquake, but instead explained by the overall trend of how consumers are looking at Japanese-made cars.

Japan Setting Bar High For Auto Sales

The tough auto market is still recovering from the auto crash of 2008 and 2009 but numbers like this are good news for pretty much everyone. But one thing is for sure: it is Japanese-made autos which are showing the most sales meaning that consumer confidence is at an all-time high. Exactly how high will be known later today when the actual report comes out.

Still, if the Paris Auto Show has shown us anything, it’s that the Japanese auto makers are ready to make a run for the title with their new lines of automobiles. Marketing innovative design and eco-friendly choices, Japan’s automakers just might be setting the new standard in monthly sales from here on. Toyota’s brash new Camry sedan design and Honda’s classy new Civic compact are making ripples across fans of the best-selling car models. And with Lexus’s new fuel economy luxury line and the redesigned Honda Accord hitting the markets, it looks like Japan is setting the bar pretty high once again…this time no one else may be able to reach it.