Japan's car output falls 12% on slow exports to China

TOKYO - Japan's vehicle production in October dropped 12.4 percent from a year earlier to hit 792,166 units, down for the second consecutive month, partly due to slowing exports to China, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said on Friday.

The output plunge was also because of deteriorating sales in Europe and the cessation in September of a subsidy program for the purchase of environmentally friendly cars, the industry body said.

Overall exports dropped 18.5 percent to 384,774 units, down for the third straight month, with the exports to China down 68.5 percent on year to 7,579 vehicles amid tensions over territorial dispute.

Exports to Europe also dropped 40.3 percent to 67,084 units with the region's anemic economy amid the eurozone sovereign debt crisis hurting auto sales, according to the association.