Japan June minivehicle sales up 0.3 pct yr/yr

TOKYO, July 1 Reuters reported that Japanese sales of minivehicles in June rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 167,907 units, the Japan Mini Vehicle Association said on Monday. It said June was the third straight month of year-on-year gains in sales of the vehicles, which are those with 660cc engines. Minivehicle sales for June and for the year to date were as follows. JUNE JAN-JUNE TOTAL 167,907 (+0.3) 970,935 (-0.2) Cars 119,388 (+6.3) 701,237 (+4.7) Commercial vehicles 48,519 (-11.9) 269,698 (-11.1) A breakdown of the sales data by company was as follows. JUNE JAN-JUNE Suzuki Motor 50,140 (+0.5) 303,204 (+1.2) Daihatsu Motor 39,754 (-10.5) 259,955 (-5.8) Honda Motor 34,115 (+4.0) 156,152 (-0.6) M'bishi Motors 19,287 (+1.3) 132,000 (+4.8) Fuji Heavy 13,480 (-19.8) 76,393 (-15.2) *Mazda Motor 4,570 (+24.6) 24,194 (+14.8) Mazda sells Suzuki-made minivehicles under Mazda nameplate. Minivehicles have maximum engine displacement of 660cc and receive preferential tax treatment.