Japan Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were up 1% in August and also up 1% YTD. Toyota continues its dominance, despite not competing in the large Kei class. Japanese brands continue to control the market, with Korean and Chinese brands not even causing a ripple.  

Tesla's figure is an estimate, based on extras less what is likely. It certainly is having a good year so far. Chrysler, GM and Ford aren't doing well. Jaguar says sayonara until the super luxury reincarnation arrives. 

The top ten models are to the right. A yellow background denotes Kei cars. The source combines the Yaris and Yaris Cross models. All the regular models are Toyotas. The Honda N-Box remains king. 

Japanese brands don't import many of their cars made in overseas factories. 81,200 in total have been imported so far. Suzuki contributed just over half of those with 43,100 units. Honda 19,000, Toyota 13,000, Mazda 3,400 amd Nissan 2700. 

Data source: JAMA, JAIA. Photos: Toyota bZ4X & Nissan Serena. 

Argentina Car/LCV Sales: 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were down 19% in August and down 13% YTD. Toyota has led since 2021, when it took over from VW. They both have taken a hit in their market share as has Renault and Jeep. 

Import duty on fully built up vehicle has given local manufacturers protection. It's complicated. Vehicles imported from MERCOSUR  nations (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia) are tariff free. Mexico (quota-based) and Ecuador have reduced or zero tariffs on light vehicles. 

Up to 50,000 units of electric and hybrid vehicles can be imported tariff free annually. This especially benefits vehicles from China but how the 50k limit is applied if reached I'm unsure. It could explain why the top brands have reduced market share. 

Data source: ACARA. Photo: VW (Amarok).

Hong Kong P Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were down 30% in August but up 53% YTD. A strong start to 2026 (+143% by April) was helped by a poor start to 2025. Then EV purchase subsidies were cut back, leading to a slump from June onward. This has apparently squeezed profit margins too. By the end of the year, the large increase on 2025 with have been eroded. How much we will have to see.

Toyota was the best selling brand here for some time, with 2019 being the last year it was ranked #1. With electric cars now being so popular and Chinese brands aggressively active in this, a special administrative region of China, a comeback seems unlikely.  

Tesla and BYD are in a war for top spot, yet both suffering sharp market share falls. Audi didn't sell any cars in August and Hyundai has now missed two consecutive months. VW hasn't sold a car here since October last year. It's become a very disrupted market place for car importers.   

Looking at the top brands in more detail.

Tesla: Y (3,797) and 3 (2,587) are the two models sold here.
BYD: Sealion 7 (2,474) and the Atto 2 (2,178) make up 74% of the total.
GAC Aion: UT (1,227), ES (889) and V (674) lead the way.
Zeekr: 7X (2,371) and 009 (737) account for 98% of sales.
Toyota: bZ3X (1,397) did 63% of the registrations on its own.

Data source: HK Transport Department. 

Picture source: Zeekr (X) and GAC Aion (ES) Hong Kong.