JAPAN'S new auto sales fell for a third straight month in October, led by Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co, as a slowing economy kept buyers out of showrooms.

Sales of cars, trucks and buses, excluding minicars, fell 13 percent to 233,922 vehicles in October, the Tokyo-based Japan Automobile Dealers Association said in a statement yesterday. Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's largest auto maker, sold 117,642 vehicles excluding the Lexus brand, down 14 percent. Sales at Nissan Motor Co, the country's third-biggest, fell 20 percent to 31,708.

Falling domestic and United States demand have prompted Honda Motor Co and Nissan, Japan's second and third-largest auto makers, to cut their earnings forecasts for this fiscal year as rising unemployment and tight credit curb consumer spending, Bloomberg News reported.

Japan's economy is slowing as export growth cools and the surge in the yen against the US dollar cuts the value of overseas sales.

'It'll be more difficult for auto demand in Japan to recover than in overseas markets, as the economy is in a severe situation,' said Hirofumi Yokoi, a Tokyo-based analyst at auto-consulting company CSM Worldwide. 'Demand is also falling, because the population is shrinking and consumers are losing interest in buying autos.'

In an attempt to spur growth, the Bank of Japan cut interest rates to 0.3 percent from 0.5 percent, and the government said it would pump 5 trillion yen into the economy in its second stimulus package since August.

Honda raised sales 10 percent to 33,423 vehicles last month. Mazda Motor Corp's sales fell 21 percent to 11,416 vehicles. Mitsubishi Motors Corp had a 39-percent drop, the dealers group said.

Minicar sales rose 6.2 percent to 145,444 units, the Japan Mini Vehicles Association said in a separate statement.

Daihatsu Motor Co, the country's largest minicar maker, had a 15-percent addition. Sales at Suzuki Motor Corp, the nation's second, increased 4.6 percent.