Japan’s major carmakers believe passenger vehicle production will reach an all-time high this fiscal year, boosted by output in emerging markets.
Production plans already in place will see over 26m vehicles rolled off assembly lines in the 12 months to the end of March 2013, up 16% from the previous year. Assembly is ramping up in markets such as China, India and Mexico.
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All of Japan’s manufacturers, with the exception of Mitsubishi, plan to build more vehicles than in fiscal 2007, when they produced a record 23.2m units.
Toyota plans to produce 8.7m vehicles with the start of production of the Corolla at a new joint venture factory in China. In southeast Asia, the company is boosting output of models like the Fortuner SUV and is also increasing production of the Aqua (Prius C) hybrid in Japan.
Nissan has begun production of the Tiida compact at a joint venture factory that went online in January in Guangzhou, China. In Japan, it plans to operate a Kyushu factory on more days starting this summer. Its global production target is 5.38m, up 11%.
Honda plans to build about 4.3m vehicles, up more than 1m while a redesigned Accord this autumn is expected to lift sales in North America.
Japanese companies are scrambling to recover from the disasters in Japan and Thailand last year when their share of the market for new vehicles fell from 31.7% in 2008 to 26.9% in 2011.
