Auto output edged down 0.8 percent in October from a year earlier to 857,508 units for a second consecutive monthly fall, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Tuesday.

"It appears hard for annual output for 2001 to go beyond 10 million units," an association official said, referring to the 10.14 million units produced the previous year.

Car production in October inched up 0.3 percent to 713,251 units, marking its first rise in two months. However, truck output declined 6.4 percent to 139,174 units for the second straight monthly fall.

Truck output was the second lowest for an October since 1966, when the association began compiling production data, it said.

Bus output increased 5.2 percent to 5,083 units, increasing for the seventh straight month.

Output of cars with engines larger than 2,000cc rose 13.5 percent to 330,884 units, while that of cars with engines of 661cc to 2,000cc slipped 14.1 percent to 272,768 units. Production of minivehicles with engines up to 661cc rose 7.6 percent to 109,599 units.

Japan's total vehicle output in the first 10 months of this year came to 8.23 million, down 2.9 percent from the same period last year.

In October, only four of Japan's 11 automakers reported a rise in production.

Toyota Motor Corp. maintained the top producer spot with 315,403 units despite a 4.2 percent decline in output from a year earlier. Nissan Motor Co. was the second-largest producer with 115,693.

Honda Motor Co. came third, with output at 107,213, up 8.2 percent.

Among other automakers, Hino Motors Ltd. registered a 14.4 percent increase to 4,119 units, but Daihatsu Motor Co. logged a 14.3 percent decline to 56,588, and Isuzu Motors Ltd. an 8 percent fall to 16,417.