Supercar demands in Japan rising

Japan is becoming Ferrari’s next growth market.

Registrations of Fiat SpA (F)’s ultra-luxury brand surged 40 percent to 144 vehicles in Japan last quarter, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association yesterday. That’s more than twice the pace in the larger U.S. market, while demand is slumping in China, at home and across Europe.

The surge in demand for luxury cars adds to signs that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda are succeeding in reviving spending in the country. Stock prices are climbing back to levels before the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and households have become more confident about the economic outlook.

“The growth is very promising, and I think we can expect these super luxury brands to introduce more models that they hadn’t introduced to Japan before and to strengthen their dealership networks,” said Yoshiaki Kawano, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at industry researcher IHS Automotive. “The optimism for an economic recovery is spreading.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) climbed 1.6 percent to 12,833.64, the highest since September 2008, in Tokyo after Kuroda yesterday announced unprecedented stimulus in his first policy meeting.

Bloomberg

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