A new Honda Fit has captured the sales title in Japan away from a Toyota hybrid for the first time in more than two years.
Honda delivered 23,281 examples of its new Fit in October compared to 20,886 Toyota Prius hybrids. The Toyota Aqua hybrid, which is sold in the U.S. as the Toyota Prius c, found 19,984 buyers. Both the Prius and the Aqua have jostled for first place for nearly 18 months.
The last time a Honda Fit was at the top of Japan’s sales charts was all the way back in May of 2011 just after the country’s new car market sank as a result of the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Demand for the new Fit has exceeded Honda’s expectations; orders have come in at four times the rate the automaker had anticipated. Last month, Fit sales grew 150 percent over the previous year.
Overall, new car sales grew 17 percent for the month of October in Japan.
The American market version of the new Fit will be unveiled next week at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
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