Japanese light vehicle manufacturers produced a combined 19,115,573 vehicles overseas in the last fiscal year ending 31 March 2017 – a 5.8% increase year on year, according to reports in Japan citing industry sources.
The increase was driven by particularly strong demand in North America and China. The data covers eight companies including Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, Daihatsu, Suzuki and Mitsubishi.
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Equivalent vehicle production in Japan rose 2.5% to 8,876,815 vehicles in the same period, the first increase in three years, helped by strong domestic and overseas sales.
Separate data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association shows total vehicle production, including heavy commercial vehicles, rose by 1.9% to 9,360,278 units.
Nissan was one of the main outperformers in terms of domestic production with output up by over 19%, helped by the introduction of the popular Note compact car, while Mitsubishi output suffered due to the fuel economy miss-statement scandal which affected its minicar operations, which also include output for other automakers, such as controlling shareholder Nissan, on an OEM basis.
The eight automakers reported a 2.4% rise in exports from Japan to 4,364,711 units in the fiscal year.
