Honda’s healthy bike sales result in big net income increase
Honda Motor Co.’s net profit soared 66% in the first half of its fiscal year, largely due to its strong motorcycle sales, the Japanese manufacturer and the Associated Press reported.
Honda reported net income of $3.3 billion for the six months through September, up from $1.95 billion during the same period last year. First-half sales rose 13% to $75.15 billion, up from $66.38 billion.
The strong financial first half came despite Honda’s electric vehicle program struggling. The manufacturer recently dropped some models. Honda said EV-related losses erased $3.04 billion from its operating profits.
But on the powersports side, it’s still unclear when Honda’s EV concept models — the EV Fun and EV Urban — will hit dealerships. Both concepts were unveiled during EICMA 2024, and reports say the EV Fun began production earlier this year. No production date has been set for the EV Urban.
Honda seems to be sticking with its stressed that Honda expects battery EVs might eventually become more popular, and it will remain flexible enough to switch to EV production in the future.
Honda also reported it raised its full-year operating profit forecast to $4.88 billion from $4.07 billion. It attributed the increased forecast to better exchange rates and efforts to reduce the impact of U.S. tariffs, including shifting production to the U.S.
The company also plans to expand motorcycle production at its Manaus factory in Brazil, increasing capacity to 2.3 million motorcycles by 2029, up from 1.6 million currently.
Honda’s motorcycle division set a first-half sales record, with models proving popular in Brazil and India. It sold 11.9 million motorcycles during the six months, up from nearly 10.8 million the previous year.
