'Move' becomes Japan's best selling car in over 4 years

TOKYO: For the first time in over four years, Daihatsu Motor Co.'s ' Move' became the most selling car in Japan replacing Toyota Motor Corp.'s ' Aqua' in April, industry bodies said on Wednesday.

The 'Move' sold 18,601 units, up 53.9 per cent from a year earlier, marking the first time in 23 months that a minivehicle with an engine of up to 660 cc has taken the top slot, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said, reported Kyodo news agency.

The 'Move' was popular apparently because it was the first minicar to be fitted with an automatic braking mechanism to help avert collisions.

The function was added when the minicar was restyled in December.

Ranking second was Toyota's Prius hybrid hatchback with sales of 18,417 units, down 15.9 per cent, followed by the Aqua with sales of 17,182 units, down 7.0 per cent.

The Aqua, which was the best-selling car on a full-year basis for the first time in fiscal 2012, lost the monthly top slot for the first time in seven months.

A growing number of Japanese consumers are choosing mini-vehicles, which are less expensive and have lower maintenance costs, observers said.

Mini-vehicles took seven slots on the top-10 list, taking all positions from fourth to ninth place.

Tenth place went to Nissan Motor Co.'s Note minicar with a 1.2 litre engine.