The termination of government buying incentives in September last year has dented consumer appetite for new vehicles, data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association showed.

Sales totalled 187,154 vehicles in January, the association said.

Auto sales, as measured by registrations of vehicles with the government, are a key indication of consumer spending sentiment and are among the first data to be released each month in Japan.

Toyota saw its sales fall by 27.7 percent to 84,726 units in the period. Until September, the world's biggest automaker had leader had benefited from government subsidies that helped its Prius hybrid stay as a top-seller.

Honda saw a slide of 23.9 percent to 27,800 while Nissan saw sales ease 23.6 percent to 29,222 units.

The figures do not include sales of mini vehicles.