But in Japan, the company's biggest market, sales fell 7.4 percent, to 2.16 million units.
Exports fell 23 percent in the half, to 567,133 units.
Worldwide vehicle sales fell 7.5 percent, to 4.13 million units.
October sales had fallen a revised 3 percent, to 492,000 units.
Production of buses fell for the 10th consecutive month by 17.2 percent to 3,589 units.
Sales fell to just over 46,000 units, and production ended on December 23, 1986.
In 1988 the total fell to 1.49 million units.
Single-family home building fell 2 percent, to 1.10 million units a year.
As expected, they fell 1.3 percent, to 1.239 million units.
In the first six months of 1999, sales fell 19 percent, to 523,257 units.