Japan’s top three car makers – Toyota, Nissan and Honda – boosted global output in January due to strong sales in overseas and domestic markets, but Mazda and Mitsubishi Motors trimmed production, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Thursday.
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Toyota Motor reportedly said its global production rose 4.9% in January from the same month last year to 555,319 vehicles, including a 9.5% increase in overseas output to 257,110 vehicles, a record-high for January.
AP noted it was the 37th straight month of gains in overseas output for Toyota, prompted mainly by increased production in North America and Asia, while the automaker’s production at home in Japan inched up 1.2% year on year to 298,209 vehicles.
Nissan Motor worldwide production surged 17.2% to 292,254 vehicles last month, with US rising 30.3% over a year earlier to 73,441 vehicles, the report said, adding that brisk sales of new models helped domestic production rise 20.0% to 136,276 vehicles.
Honda Motor worldwide production rose 12.3% to 270,438 vehicles in January – a record high for a single month, according to the Associated Press. Honda’s overseas production rose 9.6% to 164,409 vehicles, the 12th consecutive month of increases.
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By GlobalDataAP said Honda’s production in Asia, excluding Japan, surged 32.2% in January while domestic output climbed 16.6% to 106,029 vehicles and production in the United States rose 10.6%.
On the other hand, Mazda Motor global production fell 18.2% to 73,936 vehicles, according to the report, which said domestic production was down 19.2% to 53,286 vehicles while overseas production fell 15.5% to 20,650 vehicles.
Mazda spokesman Yuji Kato told the Associated Press the production loss from a December fire at a plant in western Japan continued to hurt parts supplies, forcing a curb in production. AP noted that Mazda, 33.4% owned by Ford, has said the plant damaged by the December 15 [paint shop] fire has been mostly repaired and will be back in full production by April.
According to the report, global output by Mitsubishi Motors, which is trying to rebuild its business after a string of recall problems, dropped 11.0% as demand in Japan and North American remained weak – overseas production fell 5.2% to 51,629 vehicles.
Production in the United States dropped 54.4% to 5,670 vehicles and domestic output sank 16.2% to 50,308 vehicles, the Associated Press added.
