Toyota, Nissan, Honda Boost Production 11% in February 2005

March 28, 2005; Naoko Fujimura writing for Bloomberg reported that Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., Japan's three largest carmakers, boosted production for the fourth straight month in February to meet growing demand in North America, Western Europe and Asia.

Toyota increased global production 12 percent to 603,629 vehicles in February, the company said in a release today. Nissan's production rose 11 percent to 316,404 vehicles, while Honda built 280,536 vehicles, 11 percent more than a year earlier.

The three carmakers posted record global production for February as they are building new factories overseas or expanding existing plants to meet demand for their models. Toyota already has five assembly plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and next year will open the sixth plant in Texas. Honda is building its new Ridgeline pickup truck in Ontario, Canada and Nissan expects higher sales in China this year.

``The trend that the automakers will keep boosting production won't change, as demand for their models is rising,'' Naohiko Sasaki, who helps manage the equivalent of $3.4 billion in Japanese equities as co-head of investments at Kokusai Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.

Domestic Output

Toyota's domestic output rose 10 percent to 342,657 units helped by demand for the Vitz compact car, while overseas output gained 13 percent to 260,972 units. The Toyota City, Japan-based company's exports rose 10 percent to 169,282 vehicles.

Toyota's President Fujio Cho aims to take 15 percent of the global market within a decade and surpass General Motors Corp. as the world's largest carmaker by unit sales. The company's current worldwide market share is 11 percent.

Nissan's domestic production gained 7 percent to 148,764 units, while overseas output rose 14 percent to 167,640 units. Exports from Japan rose 7.7 percent to 64,272 vehicles.

Tokyo-based Nissan is aiming for a fifth-consecutive year of record earnings. Nissan, which produces the Titan pickup trucks in North America, has been winning U.S. market share from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.

Honda's production totaled 280,536 vehicles in February, the Tokyo-based company said in a release today. Overseas production gained 11 percent to 165,960 units last month, while domestic output rose 9.4 percent to 114,576 units.

Chief Executive Takeo Fukui is aiming for a fourth year of record profits this fiscal year, helped by demand for the Acura RL sedan in North America and the diesel version of the Accord in Europe.

Mazda

Mazda Motor Corp., Japan's fourth- largest carmaker, said global auto output was little changed last month after a fire damaged one of its factories last year. The carmaker produced 88,050 vehicles globally in February, the Hiroshima, Japan-based company said in a statement today.

Mazda, which is a third owned by Ford Motor Co., cut domestic output last month 1.3 percent to 66,614 units, while exports from Japan fell 18 percent to 38,151 vehicles, Mazda said. Production outside Japan rose 4.9 percent to 21,436 last month.

One of Mazda's domestic factories was damaged by a fire Dec. 15. The company plans to reopen the plant in April after installing a new paint shop. The Ujina No. 1 plant produces 30 percent of Mazda' annual domestic capacity, building models including the Mazda2/Demio compact car, MPV minivan, Bongo van, Verisa compact car and RX-8.

Mitsubishi Motors

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan's sole unprofitable carmaker, reported production fell 14 percent to 109,073 vehicles. Domestic production declined 19 percent to 54,135 units, while overseas output fell 7.5 percent to 54,938 vehicles.

Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's largest maker of minicars, increased global production by 3.2 percent last month.

Suzuki, one-fifth owned by General Motors Corp., made 170,402 vehicles globally in February, the company, based in Hamamatsu City, southwest of Tokyo, said in a statement. Domestic production rose 5.1 percent to 87,467 units while overseas output rose 1.3 percent to 82,935 units. Exports fell 10 percent to 17,625 vehicles.