Japan’s top five automakers reported Wednesday that their domestic production in the April-September first half of fiscal 2009 plunged from a year earlier, due primarily to sharp drops in exports.

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Mitsubishi Motors recorded the steepest decline in domestic production of 52.6% to 198,996 units and the sharpest export decline of 66.8% to 99,186 units, according to Kyodo News.


The Toyota Motor group, including Hino and Daihatsu, saw a 30.3% decline in domestic output to 1,708,872 units as exports nosedived 45.4% to 768,933 units.


Domestic output decreased 34.9% at Honda Motor, 31.2% at Mazda Motor and 29.5% at Nissan Motor, the report added. Exports declined 64.2% at Honda, 43.3% at Nissan and 36.7% at Mazda.


Kyodo noted that Mazda’s overseas production increased 8.5 percent while the others recorded smaller declines in overseas output than domestic production.


Honda’s domestic sales in the half year rose 0.8% to 294,552 units while the others recorded sales declines of around 10%.

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