Fuji Heavy lifted global production in September by 18.3% to set a new record at 63,265 units, thanks to a strong boost in domestic output. It produced a total of 48,153 passenger cars in its home market of Japan, marking the 12th consecutive month of growth. The OEM has attributed to increase in part to strong demand for its Impreza model. Fuji Heavy stopped making mini-cars in February this year.
Overseas production, meanwhile, fell for the first time in 13 months, slipping 1.6% year-on-year to 15,112 units.
For the January-September period, passenger car production in its home market remained up 68.7% to set a new record at 397,107 units, although mini-car production (which, as stated above, ended earlier this year) fell 49% to 18,361 units. The OEM’s total vehicle production in Japan during the first nine months came in 53% ahead of the same period last year at 415,46 units.
Overseas production for the year-to-date rose 24.5% to 140,391 units, a record for the period. Global production also set a new record in the nine-month period at 555,859 units, 44.7% ahead of last year.
Fuji Heavy’s sales in its home market fell for the second consecutive month, dropping 5.8% to 16,510 units, due to a 44.9% decline in mini-car sales to 4,659 units. Its passenger car sales in Japan rose 30.6% last month to 11,851 units. For the year-to-date, domestic sales remained up 17.8% at 137,641 units.
CBU exports from Japan rose 24.8% in September to 32,851 units, thanks to increased deliveries of the Impreza. September marked the eighth consecutive month of growth. For the January-September period, exports rose 46.8% to 283,659 units.
Overall, Fuji Heavy managed a more productive month than many of its compatriots and recently lifted its first half FY2013 earnings forecasts. Meanwhile, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota suffered declines in domestic and overseas production, domestic sales and exports last month. The continued anti-Japanese sentiment in China could further dampen results across the Japanese OEMs.
