Toyota global production down for 10th month despite rising sales

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor (NYSE:)’s global production decreased for a 10th straight month in November, the Japanese carmaker said on Wednesday, although its worldwide sales grew for the second consecutive month on solid demand in the United States and China.

The world’s biggest automaker manufactured 869,230 vehicles globally in November, down 6.2% from the same month last year, a larger fall than October’s 0.8% dip.

Toyota’s U.S. output was down 11.8%, making a slow recovery although the production of Grand Highlander and Lexus TX SUV models resumed in late October after a four-month stoppage.

China production dropped 1.6%, which was however better than a 9% decline in the previous month, as Toyota saw higher local sales of its Granvia and Sienna minivan models and the electric sedan bZ3 jointly developed with BYD (SZ:).

Amid the rise of BYD and other Chinese brands, Toyota has decided to build an independent plant in Shanghai and start manufacturing electric cars for its Lexus luxury brand from around 2027, the newspaper reported on Monday.

In Japan, which accounts for about a third of Toyota’s global output, production was down 9.3% in November, due in part to a two-day production halt at its Fujimatsu and Yoshiwara plants.

Toyota saw its worldwide sales rising for a second straight month, by 1.7% to 920,569 vehicles, setting a new record for the month of November.

In the January-to-November period, Toyota’s global output was 5.2% lower than the same period last year at around 8.75 million vehicles, while global sales were down 1.2%.

The production and sales figures include vehicles of Toyota’s Lexus brand but exclude those of group companies Hino and Daihatsu.