TOKYO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Eight major Japanese automakers' domestic output stood at 398,075 units in September, falling 49.7 percent compared to a year earlier, statistics revealed Thursday.
The plunge came amid an ongoing global chip shortage and delays in procuring parts from Southeast Asia due to the COVID-19 resurgence this summer.
The figure logged the sharpest drop since May last year when domestic output decreased 61.8 percent from a year earlier due to the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
All the eight major Japanese automakers except Mitsubishi Motors Corp. reported a decline in domestic production in September, with Subaru Corp. marking the largest plunge of 74.8 percent because of a 12-day suspension of three of its domestic plants.
Output and sales by automobile makers bottomed out in May 2020 but began to recover after being stricken by government lockdowns around the globe.
However, a components shortage since the beginning of 2021 prolonged the output decrease.
The Dai-ichi Life Research Institute estimated that a 10-percent decrease in annual domestic output compared to 2019, when 8.33 million units were produced, will lead to a loss of 5.3 trillion yen (47 billion U.S. dollars) in nominal gross domestic product.
"This could become the main cause of Japan's economic downturn and negatively impact a wide range of industries," said chief economist Toshihiro Nagahama. Enditem
