Top 5 Japanese carmakers post smaller output falls in Aug

Japan's top five auto makers have reported smaller year-on-year declines in their global production in August compared with July, showing signs of a bottoming out in auto production.

Among the five, Mitsubishi Motors Corp recorded the sharpest global production drop of 32.1 per cent to 62,924 units, but the margin of year-on-year decline narrowed from a 45.6 per cent in the previous month.

Global output also fell 16.6 per cent to 246,403 units at Honda Motor Co, 13.7 per cent to 217,954 units at Nissan Motor Co, 12.8 per cent to 84,823 units at Mazda Motor Corp and 9.9 per cent to 566,262 units at the Toyota Motor Corp group, including Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor Co.

The margins of decline also narrowed from 24.3 per cent at Honda, 15.9 per cent at Nissan, 16.4 per cent at Mazda, 20.7 per cent at the Toyota group in July.

The improvement was attributable to production adjustments by the auto makers since the global recession and demand-boosting measures implemented by governments in Japan, Europe and the United States.

In regard to exports, Mitsubishi reported the sharpest decline of 66.8 per cent, followed by a 60.7 per cent plunge at Honda, a 40.2 per cent drop at the Toyota group, a 36.3 per cent fall at Nissan and a 31.5 per cent decline at Mazda.