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Friday, 6th January 2012
In Business In Japan,

Japanese car industry boosted by 24% sales growth in December

Automobile sales in Japan rocketed last month as manufacturers tried to make up for lost time following the disruptions caused by the double disaster on March 11th.

Sales in the industry rose for a fourth consecutive month as the automobile sector witnessed a return to growth with sales in December up 24 per cent compared to the previous month, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Figures from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association released on Thursday (January 5th) showed that some 221,960 cars, trucks and buses were sold in December.

However, despite the upturn, sales were still down significantly on 2010 levels with the 2.69 million vehicles bought in 2011 a 17 per cent decrease on the previous year.

Officials from the industry remained upbeat about the year ahead, despite the strong yen damaging the export market.

"To offset that, we have high hopes stronger domestic demand this year will buoy sales of newer models such as our Aqua hybrid," the president of Toyota Akio Toyoda told the news provider.

One British pound is currently worth around 119 Japanese yen.

Written by Mark Smith