Japan April 2004 Vehicle Sales: Mini's Up, Others Down

 TOKYO, May 6, 2004; Reuters reported that Japan's industry-wide auto sales,
including 660cc minivehicles, fell 0.6 percent in April from a
year earlier to 377,143 vehicles, industry data showed on
Thursday.
 A breakdown of domestic vehicle sales data follows, with
year-on-year percentage changes in parentheses.
 YEAR-TO-DATE          JAN-APR 2004       JAN-APR 2003
 Total                 2,165,147 (+ 2.7)     2,108,816
 Registered vehicles   1,446,211 (- 0.6)     1,455,185
 Minivehicles            718,936 (+10.0)       653,631
 ------------------------------------------------------
 APRIL                    2004                  2003
 Total                 377,143 (- 0.6)         379,288
 Registered vehicles   237,337 (- 4.4)         248,311
 Minivehicles          139,806 (+ 6.7)         130,977
 ------------------------------------------------------
 MARCH                    2004                  2003
 Total                 848,550 (+ 3.1)         823,345
 Registered vehicles   574,879 (- 0.8)         579,707
 Minivehicles          273,671 (+12.3)         243,638
 ------------------------------------------------------
 FEBRUARY                 2004                  2003
 Total                 535,239 (+ 1.7)         526,093
 Registered vehicles   361,779 (- 1.6)         367,506
 Minivehicles          173,460 (+ 9.4)         158,587
 ------------------------------------------------------
 JANUARY                  2004                  2003
 Total                 404,215 (+ 6.3)         380,090
 Registered vehicles   272,216 (+ 4.8)         259,661
 Minivehicles          132,001 (+ 9.6)         120,429
 Sources: Ordinary vehicle data provided by the Japan
Automobile Dealers Association.
 Minivehicle data provided by the Japan Mini Vehicle
Association. Monthly data are sometimes revised.