Mixed Results for Japanese Automakers

Mixed results were announced by Japanese automakers this week, with drastic global output reductions reported by Nissan, while Mazda, Honda and Toyota reported production increases.

Nissan Global Output Falls Sharply 
Worldwide production at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Japan's second-largest auto maker, dropped 21% in April, the company announced this week. This represents a planned drop that will reduce inventory.

Total production fell from a year earlier to 230,175 vehicles, with output in Japan production dropping 30% and U.S. production dropping 20%. British production reduced 19% while output in Mexico was down 17%.

The auto maker is aggressively cutting back its U.S. inventory ahead of full-model changes later this year for its Altima and Sentra mid-size sedans, as well as its luxury-brand Infiniti G35 sedan.

Three Japanese Carmakers Post Production Increases
Toyota Motor, Honda Motor Corp. and Mazda announced that their global production rose in April.

Toyota produced 640,665 vehicles in April globally, up 5.9% from the same month of last year. Overseas production at Toyota rose 3.2% to 298,656 vehicles. The company’s domestic production jumped 8.4% to 324,009 units.

Honda posted a global production increase of 4.3% to 288,394 vehicles for the ninth consecutive month. The company’s domestic output rose 5.5% to 103,097 vehicles, while its overseas production posted a 3.6% increase to 185,297 units.

Mazda also reported an increase in global production, up 9.1% to 105,410 vehicles.
Mazda is 33% owned by U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co., and announced overseas production jumped 21.7% to 28,876 units for the fourth consecutive month. Its domestic production rose 5.1% to 76,534 units.

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