Japan's top automakers said today they slashed production in August amid weak U.S. demand, led by Toyota Motor Corp. which curbed its global output by 15.5%. Toyota, which has suspended some production lines in the United States for three months as a result of the market downturn, said its overseas output dropped by 16.4% in August from a year earlier to 306,299 vehicles.
Toyota's domestic production fell 14.7% to 320,446 vehicles in August, while its global output was 626,745 vehicles for the month. During the same period, Honda Motor saw 295,541 vehicles roll off its production lines, down 4.8% from a year earlier, led by double-digit declines in both the United States and Japan.
Nissan Motors' global production dropped 5.5% from a year earlier to 252,609 vehicles, while Mitsubishi Motors' output slumped 17.1% to 90,987 vehicles. Mazda Motor, however, hiked output by 4.1% to 97,242 vehicles.
Japan's automakers have enjoyed brisk sales in the United States, particularly of their fuel-efficient vehicles, but the economic slump there has eroded sales, forcing them to rely on faster-growing emerging markets.
