News
Japan exported 1,009,755 secondhand automobiles in 2012, according to the International Auto Trade Association (iATA). Surging 17.1% from a year earlier, the total number reached an all-time high.
Exports of used motor vehicles from Japan began to increase in 2005 and exceeded 1,300,000 units in 2008. In 2009, however, the global recession in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy in the previous year drove them down to more than 670,000 units. In 2010, they improved to over 830,000 units, but in 2011, they went down again to over 850,000 units owing to the Great East Japan Earthquake, which devastated eastern Japan in March 2011. In 2012, exports came back to reach the 1,000,000-unit line again thanks to a remarkable increase in those to Myanmar.
By destination, the iATA, which compiled a report from statistical data provided by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), said that 142,412 used cars were exported to Russia, soaring 28.5% year on year and enjoying the largest share of the pie.
Those to Myanmar skyrocketed 616% to 120,836 units, helping the Southeast Asian nation make a big breakthrough from 14th to second place.
