Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) said on Tuesday its quarterly net loss shrank by more than 60 percent - better than it had anticipated thanks to falling sales costs and currency tailwinds - but it kept its forecast for an improved full-year result.
Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan's fourth-biggest auto maker and the world's third-biggest motorcycle maker, also reported healthier earnings, with a 4.6 percent rise in April-June operating profit as it braved bigger investment spending to expand capacity.
MMC - in the throes of rebuilding itself from a crisis that led to a multi-billion-dollar bail-out last year - is targeting a return to profitability next business year and stable profits in 2007/08, after a weakened brand led to a sharp slowdown in Japanese and US sales last year.
Domestic rivals such as Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co, meanwhile, continue to charge ahead, reporting higher operating profit for the past quarter thanks to healthy US and Japanese sales.
MMC, Japan's only unprofitable car maker, had a net loss of 21.65 billion yen ($192.9 million) and an operating loss of 13.78 billion yen in the first quarter, compared with a loss of 31.71 billion yen a year before.
Sales fell 12.9 percent to 485.83 billion yen, hit by plunging US sales.
Suzuki, on the other hand, had an operating profit of 28.78 billion yen ($256.4 million) in the first quarter, outpacing two brokerages' mean estimate of 27.85 billion yen.
Net profit rose 1.7 percent to 16.83 billion yen, as sales grew 8.6 percent to 637.85 billion yen on brisk motorcycle production in all markets except Europe, and a rise in automobile production everywhere.
After five straight years of profit growth, Japan's top minivehicle maker, held one-fifth by General Motors Corp, has forecast a steep earnings slide this year as it steps up output capacity world-wide to meet burgeoning demand.
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