Japanese automakers built 5,172,216 cars, trucks and buses in the first half of 2000, up 4.8 percent from the corresponding period in 1999, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Wednesday.
The rise in output followed a 20.8 percent decline in the same period of 1999, the group said.
By category, manufacturers produced 4,274,052 cars, up 6 percent, 870,758 trucks, down 0.5 percent, and 27,406 buses, up 14 percent, the group said.
It said domestic demand increased 2.3 percent in the six-month period, while exports gained about 5 percent.
In June, Japanese automakers' production came to 927,341 units, up 7.9 percent from the same month a year before for the fifth straight month of increase.
They built 763,648 cars, up 9.4 percent, 158,852 trucks, up 1 percent, and 4,841 buses, up 11.7 percent.
Domestic demand in June was 6.4 percent stronger than a year earlier, while exports increased some 15 percent.