Eight major Japanese automakers reported their combined domestic output in January fell 10.6% year on year to 714,580 vehicles as domestic sales sagged after the end of government subsidies for eco-friendly vehicle purchases.
Their domestic production declined for the fifth straight month from last September when the government terminated the subsidies, Kyodo News noted.
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Honda Motor saw the biggest decline among the eight, with its domestic output plunging 40.3% to 58,772 vehicles.
Domestic output declined 26.4% to 70,698 vehicles at Nissan Motor, 10.6% to 38,847 at Mitsubishi Motors and 5.7% to 278,804 at Toyota.
In contrast, the eight automakers’ combined overseas production rose 13.6% to 1,368,617 vehicles.
Overseas output expanded 74.7% to 60,666 units at Mitsubishi Motors, 29.7% to 283,315 at Honda, 23.0% to 190,779 at Suzuki and 13.4% to 332,468 at Nissan.
Toyota’s overseas production was up 5.3% to 441,417 units.
Of the eight firms, six with plants in China saw output in January in that country climb 21.5% to 255,567 units for the first rise since Japan-China relations deteriorated due to a territorial row last September.
The eight automakers’ combined global production in January rose 4.0% to 2,083,197 vehicles. Mitsubishi Motors had the biggest rise at 27.3%.
Combined exports in the month declined 9.4% to 323,872 vehicles. While Toyota and Mazda logged increases, the remaining six posted drops.
