Shares of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC) fell 1.1% on Sep 29, after the automaker reported a 4.7% year over year decline in production in Japan to 59,232 units in Aug 2014, which is in sharp contrast to the 39.4% increase in production in Jan-Aug. Even the worldwide production volume growth slowed down to 1.1%, compared to 8.9% in the first 8 months of 2014. Despite the slowdown, Honda’s global August production of 343,529 units was a record high for the month.
Production outside Japan increased 2.3% to 284,297 units, which is also a record high for August. This was due to a 0.1% improvement in production in North America and a 9.8% increase in production in Asia, partially offset by a 29.4% dip in Europe and a 9.5% fall in other regions. The year-over-year improvement in Asia could have been stronger, had the production in China not declined by 10.7%. Similarly, the upturn in North America was marginal due to the 5.5% year-over-year decrease in the U.S.
Sales of the Honda brand in the Japanese market went up 10.9% year over year to 52,750 units in August. New vehicle registrations surged 57.1% to 29,809 units, while Mini vehicles’ sales plunged 19.7% to 22,941 units.
Fit was the second best-selling vehicle in the industry among new vehicle registrations (excluding mini vehicles) in Aug 2014 with sales of 13,369 units. VEZEL was the fifth top-selling vehicle with sales of 7,985 units.
Under the Mini vehicles category, N-BOX was the third best-selling vehicle with sales of 10,133 units in August. N-WGN was the fifth highest-selling vehicle in the industry with sales of 8,301 units.
Export from Japan decreased 77.7% year over year to 2,461 units in Aug 2014. The decline was due to weak exports to all markets except Asia.
Honda is a leading manufacturer of automobiles and the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles. It is the second largest automaker in Japan following Toyota Motor Corporation (TM). Moreover, its peers in the global auto market include heavyweights like General Motors Company (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F).
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