Domestic vehicle production fell in Japan during October as seven of the country’s top eight automakers produced fewer vehicles.
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The slow down reflected slower domestic demand for cars following the termination in September of government subsidies which encouraged the purchase of environment-friendly vehicles.
Industry leader Toyota produced 237,089 vehicles in the month, down 22.4% on October 2009 and Nissan reported a 12% fall to 87,215 units.
The only gainer was Mitsubishi which produced 61,818 vehicles, up 33.2% due largely to brisk exports of its RVR compact SUV.
All eight automakers suffered double-digit falls in domestic sales, with Mazda reporting the biggest decline of 47.9%.
In contrast, all of the top eight except Toyota assembled more cars overseas as manufacturing operations expanded in Asian and other emerging economies.
Suzuki produced 165,014 vehicles at its overseas plants, up 24.8% to an all-time high for any month, with its operations in India, where Maruti Suzuki has a 50% market share, accounting for most of the increase.
Nissan expanded production in Thailand and China, bringing its total overseas output to 276,012 units, up 21.9% and a record high for any month.
Toyota Motor said its worldwide production fell for the second straight month in October as sales at home slowed.
Global production, excluding output by its Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries, dropped 13.6% from a year earlier to 613,169 units, Toyota said.
Honda said its worldwide production rose 1.4% to 305,406, marking an 11th consecutive year-on-year increase.
