New figures released on Friday (28th November) have revealed the extent to which production at Japan's major automakers declined over the course of October.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association confirmed that output by the country's 12 largest car makers fell by 6.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis during the month.

The drops were led by Toyota - Japan's largest producer - whose domestic output plummeted by 17 per cent to 341,948 units, with North American and Asian exports falling by 7.8 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Nissan, the third-biggest automaker, saw its production in Japan down by 11 per cent to 100,096 vehicles, plus a 25 per cent decline in its exports to North America.

Tatsuya Mizuno, Director at Tokyo-based Fitch Ratings, said: "Until now, demand from emerging markets was propping up drops in the mature markets.

"Now emerging markets are showing signs of slowing, making this a global slump.''

Meanwhile, new statistics released today have shown that sales continued to fall in Japan, Sweden and South Korea in November - with similar results expected to be posted for France, Spain and Italy.

New registrations in Sweden were down by 36 per cent to 17,616 units, while South Korean sales slumped by 8.6 per cent and Japan's overall sales declined by 18.2 per cent year-on-year.

"The fourth quarter is likely to be pretty doomed for all car makers. However, the problem is the next year and no one is free from the impact of weaker demand and the credit crisis," Cho Soo-hong, an auto analyst at Hyundai Securities, told Reuters.



Source:

Toyota Leads Decline in Japan Auto Output on Exports (Update1) (28/11/08)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=a8_M221jRrvU&refer=japan

Global car sales slide shows auto crisis worsening (01/12/08)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKTRE4B02I920081201?sp=true