Used vehicle sales in Japan in the first half of 2009 stood at 2, 81, 478 units, the lowest level in 25 years for a first half, an industry body said recently in Tokyo. Sales of secondhand vehicles, excluding mini vehicles with engines of up to 660 cc, fell 3.9 percent in the January-June period from a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.

The data showed that used vehicle sales in the six-month period have registered year-on-year decreases for nine straight years since 2001. Association officials said the decline was probably attributable to sluggish consumption caused by the global economic downturn and a trend for young people to buy fewer cars.

“The number of good quality used vehicles fell in line with the shortage of used vehicles stemming from slumping new vehicles sales,” an association official said. In June alone, the figure was down 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 337, 558 units, declining for the fifth straight month.

Association data showed that sales of used passenger cars fill 4 percent from the year before to 1, 877, 122 units.

Sales of used trucks came to 245, 965 units, down 2.6 percent, while the figure for used buses was down 4.3 percent to 8,322 units.

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