Auto production up at Honda, Toyota, Mazda

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Posted 8:11AM on Tuesday, March 26, 2002

TOKYO - Worldwide production rose at Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. last month compared to a year ago, but fell at Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese automakers said Tuesday. Honda Motor Co.'s domestic auto output rose sharply on year in February thanks to strong demand for its new models in Japan, North America and Europe. Domestic production rose 7.9 percent to 118,582 vehicles in February, the sixth straight month of increase. Worldwide, Honda's production rose 5.3 percent to 232,887. Honda's sales in Japan jumped 18.8 percent to 79,610 last month on solid sales of the Fit subcompact. The success of the Jazz, the European version of the Fit, mainly accounted for Honda's increased exports to Europe, which rose 3.0 percent to 5,484. Overall exports rose 4.4 percent to 35,842 in February. Exports to North America climbed 7.8 percent to 24,159 vehicles on the popularity of the Acura RSX sedan and the CR-V sport utility vehicle, both remodeled last year. At Toyota, worldwide production rose 5.4 percent in February to 467,580 vehicles from the previous year. Production in Japan, meanwhile, rose 1.1 percent to 305,184 from a year ago. Exports rose 11.7 percent to 148,821 on the back of strong demand in North America and the Middle East. Worldwide production for Nissan, which is 44.4 percent owned by Renault SA of France, inched down 0.2 percent to 218,611 vehicles. Nissan's domestic production fell 4.4 percent to 114,187. Sales in Japan dropped 8.6 percent to 68,315 vehicles but rose 8.2 percent to 58,328 in the United States, largely on strong sales of the all-new Altima. Mazda, about a third owned by U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co., reported rises in both domestic and overseas production for February compared to a year ago. Domestic production jumped 7.2 percent to 65,226 vehicles, while overseas production totaled 11,313, up 2.1 percent. Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which is 37.3 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler AG of Germany, said its worldwide production fell 10.9 percent to 144,579 vehicles. Sales in Japan slid 8.9 percent to 40,869.