China island row squeezes Japan car production
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This file photo taken on May 11, 2012 shows workers checking paints and bodies of Toyota Motor's best selling car Corolla at a plant of the company's subsidiary Central Motor. Three of Japan's biggest car makers said on Thursday that output in China slumped again last month as they continue to feel the effects of a bitter territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing. -- PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO (AFP) - Three of Japan's biggest car makers said on Thursday that output in China slumped again last month as they continue to feel the effects of a bitter territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.
Toyota, the world's best-selling auto maker in the first six months of the year, produced 61 per cent fewer cars in China year-on-year last month, it said, while Nissan cut output by 44 per cent and Honda by 54 per cent.
The figures follow earlier data showing all three companies had seen large falls in sales in China as a consumer boycott of Brand Japan lashed two-way trade.
Although in percentage terms, Nissan was the least badly affected of the three, its exposure to China is greater, meaning absolute production fell further.
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