Domestic sales at three of the nation's top five automakers gained in July from a year earlier, according to data the five companies released Thursday.
Nissan Motor Co. saw a fall in sales and scandal-mired Mitsubishi Motors Corp. suffered a record percentage setback, they said.
Honda Motor Co. posted the highest sales growth, of 17.7 percent to 70,039 vehicles, followed by Toyota Motor Corp.'s 3.9 percent growth to 161,943, and Mazda Motor Corp.'s 1.8 percent growth to 25,465.
Nissan's sales fell 7.1 percent to 75,265 units.
MMC's woes continued, with sales plunging 52.2 percent to 15,862 vehicles for the seventh straight month of decline. The margin of decline was the steepest for any single month since 1992, the earliest year for comparable data.
MMC has been reeling from a string of defect coverup scandals, eroding consumer confidence in the Mitsubishi group auto producers.
MMC's domestic production skidded 17.7 percent in July, but exports rose 14.4 percent.
Exports by Mazda grew 25.1 percent, Nissan's rose 22.7 percent and Toyota's were up 13.7 percent. Honda's exports slipped 1.0 percent.
MMC evaluates Daimler
The Associated Press
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is reassessing its alliance with DaimlerChrysler and may scale back its cooperation in the production of midsize sedans, the company said Thursday.
DaimlerChrysler decided in April not to invest any more cash in the scandal-hit automaker for its restructuring plan.
The German-American company's stake in MMC has since shrunk to about 20 percent from 37 percent. MMC has issued new shares to the Mitsubishi group of companies and other investors to raise cash.
MMC said in a brief statement Thursday it would continue to cooperate with DaimlerChrysler in areas that benefited both groups.