Japan's Used Car Exports Holding Steady Despite Strong Yen

Integrity Exports buys cars at Japan’s used car auctions for export around the world, and one thing that has made this market particularly tough has been the exceptionally strong Yen levels in 2011. Let’s put it this way: I first lived in Japan in 1994, and since then it has been a good rule of thumb that the Yen rate would typically oscillate around the 110 Yen to the US Dollar level. In the mid-2000s it did get up to 120 Yen or so, but since the financial crash in 2008, the rate has been getting steadily worse. Right now it is around 77 Yen to the Dollar – a long way from that high. The Yen has also been very strong against other currencies as well.

However, despite this, the latest figures showing numbers of used vehicles deregistered for export are holding up exceptionally well: Overall figures are 1.8% higher to date than at the same time last year. Also deregistrations in July are up 33.2% over the numbers for June. Clearly there is much to interest buyers around the world Japan’s used cars that goes beyond simple price factors.

It is also interesting to see how the different manufacturers fair in terms of popularity. In this there is really no contest: It would be fair to say that not only is the car in front a Toyota, but that it is really way in front. Clearly importers of used cars around the world have a strong preference in this regard.

If you are interested in getting used cars from Japan’s car auctions, please contact us here or get a free 2-week guest pass to the car auctions here.

Source: Japanese Government data supplied by JUMVEA