Top best-selling Japanese cars in Romania

Infiniti

There are 10 Japanese car brands in Romania, but only 9 made it to the top.

The Japanese manufacturer managed to sell some units in the five-month period into May in Romania. With 11 cars sold in Romania, the car marker takes the ninth spot in the list.

In the same period of last year, Infiniti sold 12 cars in the local market.

Lexus

Lexus car registrations in Romania dropped 55% in the first five months, to 24 units.

In January-May 2009 period, Lexus sold 53 units in Romania.

In May, 4 Lexus cars were registered in the local market, 33% up from May 2009.

Subaru

100 Romanians bought a Subaru in the first five months.

Compared to the same period of last year when 205 Subaru units were registered in Romania, the decline is 50%.

Subaru sold in May 23 new cars, same as a year earlier.

Subaru recorded a market share of 0.5% in Romania last year.

Nissan

With 214 cars sold in Romania in the period under review, Nissan takes the sixth spot in the list.

Of all the Japanese car brands, Nissan sales suffered the biggest decline, in Jan-May, of 71% from 748 in the same period of last year.

87 Nissan cars were registered in Romania in May, down 28% from 120 in the same period of last year.

In 2009, Nissan had a market share of 1.1% in Romania.

Mazda

At no 5 is Mazda with 230 cars sold in Romania from January to May.

Compared to the same period of 2009 when 382 units were sold in Romania, this year, the car maker’s sales in the local market fell 40%.

51 Mazda cars were sold in May, down 20% from 64 in the same period of last year.

Mitsubishi

With 256 new-car registrations in Romania in the first five months, Mitsubishi takes the fourth spot in the list of best-selling Japanese car brands in Romania.

Mitsubishi sales dropped 59% this year from 626 in the first five months of 2009.

In May, 65 Mitsubishi cars were registered in Romania, down 66% from 192 year-ago period.

Mitsubishi had a market share of 1.2% in 2009 in Romania.

Honda

In the Jan-May period, Romanians registered 315 Honda cars, 33% down from a year earlier.

Last year, Honda sold 467 units in the five-month period into May.

Honda car registrations dropped 66% year-on-year.

Last year, Honda had a market share of 1% in Romania.

Suzuki

Ranking second in the list is Suzuki with 477 units sold in Romania in Jan-May.

Suzuki suffered 25% decline this year, from 634 units in the same period last year.

In May, Suzuki car registrations stood at 101 units, down 27% from 139 in May 2009.

Last year, 1,700 Suzuki cars were sold in Romania.

Toyota

Toyota remains the best-selling Japanese car brand in Romania with 633 cars sold in the Jan-May period.

Year-on-year, Toyota sales in Romania dropped 60% from around 1,507.

In May, the car manufacturer sold 211 units in Romania, down 28% from May 2009.

Toyota had a market share of 3% in Romania last year, with 3,457 units sold.