Supply Chain Research

Japan’s automakers increased their exports of vehicles by 11% on a year earlier in August, the fastest rate of growth since November 2015. Nissan led the way with a 49% growth in exports due to rising production of models including the new Micra. Suzuki expanded the fastest with a trebling of exports,including shipments from its Indian subsidiary. The seven companies saw their exports to the U.S. fall. A 24% drop in August and 33% slide in September (based on pro-rata data) reflects a 10% drop in sales of imported cars as well as hurricane-disrupted shipping.