Japan’s vehicle output up 5% in February
Production of cars, trucks and buses in Japan rose 5% year on year to 959'388 units in February 2005, said the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). Passenger car production amounted to 806'656 units in February, up 5.4% year on year. Truck and bus production rose 2.3% and 21.8% to 145'976 units and 6'756 units respectively. Domestic sales totaled 529'329 units in February, down 1.1% compared to the same period last year. Passenger car sales dropped 0.4% year on year to 440'607 units. In addition, trucks fell 4.1% to 87'310 units and buses declined 22% to 1'412 units. The total production for the April 2004-February 2005 period reached 9.56 million units, an increase of 2.5% from a year earlier.