Mazda Motor Co has been badly hit by the recent tension between Japan and China. The Japanese automaker's new car sales in China nearly halved in October from the same month last year.

Mazda says it sold nine and a half thousand units in China last month, down nearly 45 percent from a year ago. That was even worse than September sales, which recorded a year-on-year decline of 35 percent.

Mazda has lowered its sales estimate in China for the current business year by about 85 thousand vehicles. The company also stopped night-time operations at its plant in Nanjing from late October. Mazda says sales in China are expected to remain sluggish and that it will adjust output at the plant to control inventory.