Honda Reports Record Earnings

Honda Motor Co. reported that its consolidated net profit for the six months ended Sept. 30, 2004, inched up 0.9% from the same period last year to a record high of $2.174 billion, aided by strong sales of motorcycles and automobiles. Sales of motorcycles climbed 25.2% to 5.28 million units while those of automobiles rose 8.5%to 1.57 million units. North American motorcycle unit sales climbed to 278,000 units from 239,000 units in the same period last year, Honda said. Overall sales grew 3.5% to a record $37.521 billion, it said.
A good showing in the auto and motorcycle divisions more than offset exchange losses from the yen’s appreciation against the dollar, and increased sales and management costs, the company said.