Japan's car sales fall but at slower pace as supply constraints ease

Japan's domestic new car sales fell 11.4% in December from a year earlier, industry data showed on Wednesday, a sign that supply bottlenecks continued to delay deliveries and weigh on the country's fragile consumption.
 

But the pace of decline slowed from 31.3% in October and 14.3% in November, as automakers gradually emerged from parts shortages and Southeast Asian factory shutdowns that hammered production last year.
 

Auto sales are among data closely watched by analysts for clues on how quickly Japan's output and consumption can recover from last year's pandemic-induced slump.
 

The recent rise in Omicron coronavirus variant cases adds to