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TOKYO – U.S. slump? What U.S. slump?
That's the question Honda Motor Co. is asking after another quarter of record results that spurred the Japanese automaker to lift an already cheery full-year profit forecast.
In the September-December quarter, Honda booked all-time highs in sales, operating profit and net income, as demand surged for more fuel-efficient cars such as its compact Fit.
Despite the softening market in North America, Honda boosted regional sales there by 2.1 percent to 481,000 vehicles in the fiscal third quarter.
And it did so with lower incentives than a year earlier.
It all contributed to a 35 percent increase in overall operating profit, to 276.2 billion yen ($2.51 billion), from a year earlier. Revenues climbed 10 percent to 3.04 trillion yen ($27.68 billion).
Citing strong global sales and favorable exchange rates, Honda boosted its operating profit forecast 4.5 percent to 920 billion yen ($8.36 billion) for the current fiscal year ending March 31.
That's another record, by the way, and an 8 percent improvement over the previous year.
So far, the only businesses hurting from the U.S. subprime loan problem are motorcycles and power products, Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo told reporters.
The Fit saw U.S. sales double to 56,432 vehicles last year. Sales of the CR-V sport utility vehicle rose 29 percent to 219,160 units. Honda said it has also sold about 70,800 units of the redesigned Accord in the United States since its launch in September.
Looking ahead, the company sees the overall U.S. market shrinking to 15.9 million units in 2008. But Honda's not worried. It still expects a 2 percent increase in retail sales. whic |
