Japanese exports drop 20 percent
Statistics released Aug. 31 by the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association revealed that its members had another down month for production and exports again in July. The month marks the fourth consecutive one for production and the third consecutive for exports that there has been a decrease on the same month of the previous year.
Production dropped 5 percent to 125,063 units for July 2007, from 131,714 units in July 2006. Honda (41,138 units) and Suzuki (34,815 units) both posted 12 percent production decreases, while Yamaha was up 4.6 percent (30,108 units) and Kawasaki was up 17.1 percent (18,966 units).
Exports dropped 20.2 percent to 79,001 units for July 2007, down from 99,034 units in the same month of the previous year. Suzuki showed a significant drop in exports, down 49 percent to 15,482 units from 30,383 units in July 2006. Honda was down 29.6 percent to 21,752 units. Yamaha slowed exports slightly (0.2 percent), to 24,454 units. Kawasaki posted an export increase of 30.8 percent to 17,313 units.
