Suzuki Edges Past Honda to Become Japan's Second-Largest Automaker by Global Sales

Suzuki Motor Corp has overtaken Honda Motor Co as the second-biggest Japanese automaker by worldwide sales, Japan Today reported, citing figures published Thursday by the country's eight major carmakers for the April-September period. Toyota Motor Corp remained in first place, the data showed.

Suzuki moved up from fourth position a year earlier, helped by strong demand in India, where it commands about 40 percent of the passenger car market, according to the data. Its global sales climbed 19.9 percent to a record 1,824,006 units for the first half of the fiscal year, the company said.

Honda's global sales fell 4 percent to 1,661,569 units, the company said, dragged down by a 50 percent slump in China. Nissan Motor Co, which is working to turn its business around, saw its China sales drop by more than 40 percent, according to the figures.

Toyota, the world's biggest automaker by volume, recorded its first fiscal first-half falls in both global sales and production in two years, as softer demand in China weighed on results, the company reported. Sales, including Lexus, slipped 4.0 percent to 5,059,014 units, while production eased 1.9 percent to 4,895,406 units, Toyota said.

Its overseas sales for the six months declined 6.5 percent to 4,256,216 units, and production outside Japan fell 5.6 percent to 3,215,352 vehicles, according to Toyota. In China, its sales plunged 25.1 percent, Japan Today reported. Higher gasoline prices linked to the Middle East crisis have accelerated electric vehicle uptake there, leaving Toyota and other Japanese brands struggling against local rivals, the report said.

Elsewhere, solid demand for hybrids helped Toyota's sales rise 1.8 percent in North America and 1.4 percent in Europe, the company said.

Among the other manufacturers, Mazda Motor Corp, Daihatsu Motor Co and Subaru Corp all recorded growth in global sales, according to the data: Mazda up 1.2 percent to 616,776 units, Daihatsu up 0.5 percent to 494,759, and Subaru up 3.4 percent to 470,379. Nissan's sales dropped 11.8 percent to 1,355,233 units, and Mitsubishi Motors Corp's fell 7.0 percent to 356,887, the figures showed.

Combined, the eight automakers sold 11.83 million vehicles worldwide, down 1.3 percent from a year earlier, Japan Today reported. Their global production also totaled 11.83 million units, a 0.9 percent decline, while domestic output rose 2.4 percent to 3.97 million units, according to the data.