Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, said its global vehicle production fell for the first time in 12 months in September as output dropped in North America, Europe and Japan, reported Bloomberg.
The carmaker, based in Toyota City, Japan, said it produced 672,604 units last month, or 1.3 percent fewer than a year earlier, after it cut output by 16 percent drop in the U.S. and 30 percent in Europe.
Toyota’s exports from Japan fell by 11 percent to 148,836 vehicles in September, while the automaker trimmed production by 1.3 percent outside Japan and by 1.4 percent domestically, it said in a statement. A government incentive program for fuel- efficient cars ended Sept. 8 in Japan.
“Production will continue to be weak for the rest of the year, given a drop in Japan sales after the end of the subsidy program and a weak U.S. economy,” said Masatoshi Nishimoto, an analyst at IHS Automotive in Tokyo.
Shares in Toyota closed 1.1 percent lower at 2,893 yen in Tokyo. The stock has declined 25 percent in 2010.
Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest automaker, said earlier today that its global output rose 9.2 percent to 328,368 units in September, while Nissan Motor Co. said total production surged 27 percent to 395,658 vehicles.
