Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. increased global vehicle production in May as Japan's largest carmakers benefited from rising demand in Asia and the U.S.
Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, boosted output 28 percent from a year earlier to 568,004 vehicles last month, the company said in a statement today. Exports at the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker rose 15 percent to 115,280 vehicles.
Demand for vehicles recovered in the U.S. and Japan from a year earlier, when carmakers scaled back output to reduce inventory amid a recession. Car sales also continued climbing in China, the world's largest auto market, where industrywide deliveries of passenger cars, trucks and buses rose 26 percent in May to 885,800.
"The North American market will continue to recover in the second half of this year, while the emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil will continue to grow," said Satoru Takada, an analyst in Tokyo at TIW Inc. "It will probably take two or three years for global demand to recover" to the levels prior to the global recession, he said.
Output at Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, increased 43 percent to 278,543 vehicles, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. Nissan, third by unit sales among Japan's automakers, said production of its cars and light trucks rose 42 percent to 309,287 units.
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