Bloomberg reported that Dongfeng Motor Group Co, the Chinese partner of Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co posted a 10% decline in first half profit as slowing demand and production disruptions after Japan earthquake hurt sales.

The company said net income in the first six months fell to CNY 5.9 billion or CNY 0.68 per share from CNY 6.53 billion or CNY 0.76 a year earlier. That beat the CNY 5.5 billion average of four analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The automaker faced output disruptions after Japan March 11 earthquakes and tsunami caused shortages of electricity and parts at Nissan and Honda. Shipments have also slowed in China this year after the government reinstated a 10% sales tax on small cars and phased out trade-in subsidies in rural areas.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers first-half sales at the Wuhan, Hubei province based Dongfeng rose 3% to CNY 63.7 billion. The country sold 9.3 million automobiles in the first six months up by 3.4%YoY.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)