US auto sales down for Toyota, Honda

Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda saw a decline in sales of new cars in the US in October despite an overall increase of auto sales in the country.

US market research firm Autodata says just over 1 million new vehicles were sold in October. That's up 7-and-a-half percent from the same period a year ago.

But Toyota's sales were down nearly 8 percent, while Honda's dropped 0.5 percent. These declines are due to disruptions in parts supplies caused by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

The two automakers were recently forced to disrupt production in the US again due to a lack of parts from Thailand, where flooding has dealt a heavy blow to supply networks.

Meanwhile, another Japanese automaker, Nissan, saw an 18 percent rise of new car sales in the US, as it had maintained a sufficient parts inventory. Sales for South Korean rival Hyundai Motor surged nearly 23 percent.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 16:39 +0900 (JST)