Nikkei reported that Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company saw new car sales in the US plunge last month as they failed to replenish dealership inventories due to parts shortages stemming from the March earthquake.

According to U.S. research firm Autodata Corporation, Toyota sold about 130,000 new vehicles in August down 12.7% on the year. The parts supply disruption forced the automaker to reduce output of sport utility vehicles and other models.

Honda was also forced to cut production with its new car sales falling 24.3% to 82,321 units last month. Sales of the redesigned Civic, released in April were also sluggish.

Both carmakers are moving to boost production. But whether they can reclaim the market shares they ceded to the competition remains unclear. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Company and General Motors Company for example, plan to give dealerships more sales incentives.

(Sourced from Nikkei.com)