Japan's New Car Sales Jump 92% in April

In April Japanese bought 208,977 new vehicles, excluding minivehicles, a 92.0% jump over the same month last year.

It was the eighth straight month of rising vehicle sales, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Japanese Automobile Dealers Association.

Passenger car sales soared 92.6% to 187,036 units, while truck sales jumped 85.7% to 20,939. Bus sales more than doubled to 1,002.

Most of the increase are attributed to recovery in both auto production and consumer psychology from the effects of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan’s northeastern coast last March 11.

Recent domestic sales are also boosted by an improving US economy which makes Japanese more optimistic about economic prospects. Yet another factor is rising fuel costs which give consumers more incentive to buy fuel-efficient hybrids and subcompacts.