Japan's vehicle production from April to September plunged 33.5 per cent from a year earlier to 3,855,856 units, recording a 34-year low on the basis of the six-month period, an industry body said.
The production figure of cars, trucks and buses marked the first year-on-year fall in two years and the largest margin of fall for a fiscal first-half period, diving to the lowest level since 3,514,500 units recorded in the April-September period of 1975, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said.
The decline was attributable to production adjustments by automakers amid the global slump in auto sales, according to the association.
As the margin of fall has been gradually narrowing in recent months, an association official said auto production is on the mend as a result of demand-boosting measures by governments around the world.
Among passenger cars, production of mainstay standard-size cars plunged 41.3 per cent to 1,743,035 units and that of smaller cars declined 22.2 per cent to 1,020,269 units. Exports of cars, trucks and buses in the six-month period dropped 48.5 per cent to 1,770,299 units.
