Honda Motor Company, Japan's number 2 automaker, reported today that quarterly sales rose 28 percent compared to Q1 2009 to $24.5 billion. Honda sold 874,000 vehicles for the fiscal fourth quarter, up 28.5 percent from 680,000 the year before.
Honda's better fortunes mirror similar recoveries at other Japanese automakers, whose results had been battered the previous year by the financial crisis. Honda's sales in Japan recovered, helped by tax breaks for "green" models and high demand for smaller models like the Fit, Honda said.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, Honda reported a 96 percent rise in profit to $2.9 billion. However, sales of $92.3 billion were down 14 percent from the previous fiscal year. Honda is expecting better results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, estimating a profit of $3.7 billion, 27 percent higher than in the fiscal year that just ended. Honda is optimistic about sales too, projecting a 9 percent climb to $100.4 billion in the current fiscal year.
The Japanese automaker is expecting sales of 3.6 million vehicles for the current fiscal year, up nearly 7 percent from 3.4 million last year. Honda's U.S. sales have recovered moderately, while the European market also has gradually begun to recover in the second half of FY 2009, helped by government incentives, according to Honda.
Honda’s motorcycle division contributed to earnings with a 30 percent sales increase to 2.6 million motorcycles for the quarter.
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