TOKYO (AP) — Most major Japanese automakers, including Toyota and Honda, reported Thursday an increase in their auto production in August, bouncing back from the previous month's decline caused by earthquake damage at a key supplier.
Global production at Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. rose last month, while Mazda Motor Corp. posted a decline.
In July, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda were forced to stop production at some domestic plants temporarily because key parts supplier, Riken Corp., was damaged by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck north-central Japan on July 16, killing 11 people. Riken later returned to normal operations.
Toyota, closing in on General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest automaker, said its global production rose 6.9 percent to 742,095 vehicles in August, with overseas output surging 12.7 percent to 366,583 units.
Toyota's domestic production edged up 1.8 percent to 375,512 vehicles.
Honda Motor, Japan's second-biggest automaker, said global production rose 8.4 percent to 311,117 vehicles in August, with its overseas output climbing 9.1 percent to 214,702 units.
It was a record for the month both in global and overseas production — the 25th straight month of increase for each. Honda's production in North America, the rest of Asia and China also set a record for August.
In Japan, Honda's production rose 6.8 percent to 96,415 vehicles — the first on-year rise in two months.
At Tokyo-based Nissan Motor, global production jumped 16.7 percent to 267,390 vehicles in August. Nissan's domestic output grew 10.1 percent to 87,187 vehicles.
Nissan, 44 percent owned by Renault SA of France, reported overseas production rose 20.1 percent to 180,203 units. In the U.S., however, production fell 8.4 percent to 65,087 vehicles last month, despite increased output of the Altima model.
Mitsubishi Motors said its worldwide production climbed 16.9 percent to 109,817 vehicles, with a 34.7 percent rise in domestic output offsetting a 1.5 percent fall in overseas production.
Mazda, an affiliate of Ford Motor Co. of the U.S., said its global production fell 4.1 percent to 93,476 vehicles. The Hiroshima-based automaker's domestic production rose 2 percent to 72,530 units, while overseas output dropped 20.6 percent to 20,946 vehicles due to the termination of production of Familia and Premacy models in China.
