19.7% of new cars sold in May 2012 in Japan were hybrids; Prius and Aqua dominate

Integrity Exports. 19.7% of new cars sold in Japan in May 2012 were hybrid cars, up 11 percentage points from last year. The liftback Prius led the field with 20,789 units sold, closely followed by Aqua (Prius C overseas) with 20,091 units sold.

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 four-tenths of new car sales in Japan, with 6 of May’s top-ten best-selling models being keis.