The Extreme Japanese Auto Market – Mini- or Luxury

Japan's auto market is heading to extremes.

Buyers are either going for the mini-car or a luxury car.

More than one-third of cars in Japan bought last year were mini-cars (660cc engines and smaller). It was a new high for the fourth straight year.

The cars are affordable and have low maintenance costs.

Nissan finds the cars so popular that it has them supplied by another automaker, then resells them under its own brand.

Mini-cars made up 20% of total sales for every Japanese automaker in 2007.

On the other end, sales of imported car models about 6 million were up 70% from 7 years ago.

Overall, Japan's domestic car sales were down 6.7%.

More sales at the top end and at the bottom end. 

Is this a reflection of the distribution of wealth in Japan? 

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