Japanese vehicle production in January fell 41% year-on-year to 576,539 units, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
Japanese vehicle makers are reducing output in response to sharply lower export demand.
“This is the sharpest decline since 1967, when we started compiling this kind of data,” a JAMA spokesman told the AFP news agency.
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Exports of passenger cars, trucks and buses tumbled 59.1% in January.
Shipments to the US, the biggest export market for Japanese carmakers, crashed by 76.5% with those to Europe plunging by 63.2%, JAMA said.
However, analysts say that the large production cutbacks will tackle high inventory levels and production reductions should ease as the year progresses.
See also: JAPAN: Automakers’ output dives in January
RECESSION WATCH: Export slide shocks Japan’s economy
