Japan's top three automakers continued to report year-on-year drops in global output in August amid the coronavirus pandemic, though the pace of decline eased at Toyota Motor Corp., data showed Tuesday.

Toyota produced 634,217 vehicles in August, down 6.7 percent from a year earlier. Despite August marking the eighth straight month of decline, the fall was smaller than the 10.2 percent drop in July, as Japan's largest automaker saw a recovery in China and other overseas markets. Production in Japan totaled 202,691 vehicles, down 11.5 percent, according to Toyota.

Honda Motor Co.'s output fell 6.4 percent to 389,481 vehicles, though the decline was modest, helped by increased production in China that hit a record high for the month of August, according to the automaker.

Nissan Motor Co. was the only one among the top three that reported a double-digit fall. The automaker, which is seeking to get back on its feet after the removal of Carlos Ghosn as chairman, built 304,739 vehicles, down 25.1 percent.

After taking a hit earlier this year from the novel coronavirus pandemic, economic activity has gradually resumed, with governments around the world seeking to keep the spread of the virus in check. The death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, has topped 1 million globally, with over 33 million infections confirmed, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Toyota's global sales decreased 10.6 percent to 720,765 vehicles, falling for the eighth straight month, with solid demand in China offset by weakness in Japan and North America.

Weak sales in North America, especially in the United States, pushed Nissan's global sales down 23.3 percent to 327,297 vehicles.

==Kyodo

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