Honda Motor Co. is likely to surpass Nissan Motor Co. to become the second largest automaker in terms of domestic sales this year for the first time since its establishment in 1948, according to reports released Monday by the automakers.
Honda said sales from January to November totaled 687,008 units, up 8.3 percent from the same period in 1999, compared with Nissan's sales in the period of 679,577 units, down 6.2 percent.
The leader in domestic sales is Toyota Motor Corp., which reported the same day it sold 1,644,346 units in Japan in the period, up 5.9 percent.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s domestic sales came to 505,125, down 7.3 percent, while Mazda Motor Corp.'s totaled 293,580, up 0.4 percent, according to the firms.
In the month of November, domestic output rose at only two of the five major automakers -- Toyota with a 4 percent increase to 311,561 and Mitsubishi Motors with a 2.4 percent growth to 84,774.
Toyota stepped up its output thanks to favorable sales on the domestic market of compact cars, including the popular Corolla series, Toyota officials said.
Mitsubishi Motors' domestic output was partly boosted by active exports, up 40.1 percent to 44,520, although domestic sales dropped 24.7 percent to 34,110 due to the fallout from a coverup scandal revealed earlier this year. Mitsubishi was found to have systematically hidden vehicle-defect complaints from customers for nearly 30 years.
On exports, Honda reported a 7.5 percent fall to 43,580 while Mazda posted a 28.5 percent decline to 27,527.