Four of Japan's five largest automakers increased domestic production in the first half of 2000 from the same period last year, according to data released by the companies Friday.
During the January-June period, Toyota Motor Corp.'s domestic output rose 13.1 percent to 1,725,584 vehicles, the first increase in three years.
Honda Motor Co. also said its domestic production boosted 5.2 percent to 614,770 vehicles, while Mitsubishi Motors Corp. posted a 0.8 percent increase to 523,389 units, marking the first rise in three years.
Mazda Motor Corp. also reported a 7.8 percent increase to 419,491 vehicles.
But Nissan Motor Co. continued to struggle. Its domestic production fell 1.4 percent from the same period last year to 679,030 vehicles, down for the third consecutive year.
On domestic sales during the period, Toyota posted a 5.3 percent increase to 917,151 vehicles, the first rise in three years. With the figure, Toyota registered a record 43.4 percent share of the domestic market.
Honda's domestic sales rose 9.7 percent to 375,712 vehicles and Mazda also posted a 4.4 percent rise to 169,166 units.
However, Nissan's domestic sales dropped 3.6 percent to 388,530 vehicles, down for the fourth consecutive year. Mitsubishi reported a 3.2 percent fall to 307,927 units, the first drop in two years.
In June alone, Toyota, Honda and Nissan raised both domestic production and domestic sales from the previous year, while Mitsubishi decreased its domestic sales and Mazda's domestic production dropped.
Toyota reported that its domestic production in June jumped 17.2 percent to 311,611 vehicles and its domestic sales rose 13.3 percent to 165,310 units.
Domestic output by Honda increased 9.5 percent to 117,944 vehicles, while its domestic sales jumped 12.3 percent to 76,374 units.
Nissan's domestic production increased 8.5 percent to 122,334 units, and its domestic sales rose 0.6 percent to 61,869 vehicles.