Japan Loves Toyota, 50% More Cars Sold in April

The millions of cars recalled worldwide by Japanese carmaker Toyota seems to have done little in shacking the decades of consumer loyalty towards the brand. Apparently, more and more people go for a Toyota vehicle these days in Japan, as the carmaker announced it has sold 50 percent more vehicles on the domestic market than it did the same month last year.

According to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, Toyota sold 113,644 vehicles last month. Although rivals Honda and Nissan posted sales increases as well, Toyota remains the brand of choice in Japan. The increase marks the ninth consecutive month the Japanese carmaker posts an increase in sales.

In all, the Japanese auto market amounted to 222,095 new vehicles. Aside from Toyota, Honda posted a sales increase by 13 percent, while Nissan announced it sold 31 percent more vehicles.

The good Toyota performance is not to be attributed to the carmaker alone. The Japanese government recently extended the country's scrappage program until September, after it was initially meant to end at the end of March.

A similar increase in sales was reported by Toyota in the US as well. Earlier this week, Toyota posted its sales figures for April, with the numbers showing a 24.4 percent increase over the same month of 2009. Toyota reported it sold 157,439 vehicles in April, 83,506 units of which being passenger cars.

The best selling models were the Corolla (27,932 units, up 50.7 percent), Camry and Camry Hybrid (combined sales of 27,914 units, up 10.2 percent).