Japanese brands dominate auto sales race as European cars lose ground

Thanks to the revised COE system.

Mass-market Japanese cars are clawing their way back to market dominance after years of losing out to their premium European counterparts.

BMI Research highlighted that for the first four months of 2015, Japanese brands took up four of the top five brands in terms of sales volume.

Toyota had a clear lead of more than 800 units over second-seeded Mercedes-Benz. The other top brands are Honda, Mazda and Nissan, which all managed to sell over 1,000 units for the period.

The report noted that Japanese brands are winning back buyers’ favour because of the revision in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) rules.

“As a result of the shift in categorisation for the COEs, whereby engine size is now taken into account, we expect volume brands to outperform in 2015 as more COEs become available in the smaller 'A' category and many premium models are re-categorised to the next band. A weak yen will see Japanese brands lead among the volume carmakers as they gain a price advantage,” the report said.