Monthly new vehicles sales in Japan fell to the lowest level in 37 years as wide-spread economic crisis battered consumer sentiment, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Monday.

Domestic sales of new vehicles, excluding minivehicles, in Japan declined 27.9 percent in January from a year earlier to 174,281 units for the sixth consecutive monthly decline.

The figure was about half the peak of 325,468 cars logged in January 1990, the association said. The sales logged fall for six consecutive months.

Meanwhile, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said sales of minivehicles fell 5.6 percent from a year earlier to 127,426 units for the third consecutive monthly decline.

Japanese automakers have been slashing jobs and cut costs and production to weather the crisis and yen's sharp appreciation.