Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., Japan's second- largest carmaker, topped the country's passenger-car sales ranking for the tenth straight month with its Fit compact.

Fit sales rose 84 percent in August from a year earlier to 11,770 units, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a release today. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla ranked second with 7,595 vehicles sold, and its Vitz took third with 6,943 sold.

Demand for the Fit and the new Freed minivan boosted Honda's domestic sales, excluding minicars, by 16 percent last month. The Fit, revamped in October, helped Tokyo-based Honda end the Toyota Corolla's four-year reign as Japan's bestselling non-minicar model in the year ended March 31.

Toyota had five models in the top 10 last month, while Honda had two. Nissan Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., and Suzuki Motor Corp. had one each. The dealers group's ranking excludes minicars and imported models.

Industrywide vehicle sales fell 15 percent last month, the biggest monthly drop in almost ten years, as the country's unemployment rate remained near its highest level since 2006 and job prospects worsened.

Including minicars, Suzuki's WagonR was Japan's best- selling vehicle last month. WagonR sales fell 7.4 percent to 13,737 units. Minicars are powered by engines no larger than 0.66 liters.

The following table shows Japan's 10 bestselling automobiles, excluding minicars, for August by model, maker, sales, vehicle type and percentage change from a year earlier.

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No. Model      Maker     Total     Type     %Change  July Rank
1.  Fit        Honda     11,770   Compact     84.3     1
2.  Corolla    Toyota     7,595   Compact      2.8     2
3.  Vitz       Toyota     6,943   Compact     -5.9     3
4.  Freed      Honda      5,931   Minivan      N/A     4
5.  Prius      Toyota     4,708   Compact     13.3     7
6.  Demio      Mazda      4,545   Compact     -8.0     11
7.  Passo      Toyota     4,406   Compact    -13.5     8
8.  Swift      Suzuki     4,333   Compact     16.5     16
9.  Tiida      Nissan     4,331   Compact     -4.6     9
10. Vellfire   Toyota     4,257   Minivan      N/A     13
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Source: Japan Automobile Dealers Association

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in Tokyo at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 4, 2008 00:20 EDT