Honda's Domestic Sales Rise For 1st Time In 13 Months

TOKYO November 26, 2003; Yoshio Takahashi writing for Dow Jones reported that Honda Motor Co.'s sales in Japan rose for the first time in more than a year in October, a promising sign for the Japanese auto maker that has fared well this year in the U.S. market but lagged local rivals at home.

Honda, Japan's third-biggest car maker, said Wednesday its domestic auto sales rose 4.1% on year to 66,127 vehicles, the first rise since September 2002, boosted by strong sales of mini-vehicles.

Other Japanese auto makers also reported steady domestic sales for the same month. The country's top auto maker, Toyota Motor Corp. , said its sales rose for the second straight month, increasing 0.1% to 149,846 vehicles.

Nissan Motor Co. , Japan's second-biggest auto company, said its sales in Japan were up 6.2% from a year earlier at 60,553 vehicles thanks mainly to its popular "Cube Cubic" compact minivan.

Mazda Motor Corp. said its domestic sales increased 5.5% to 20,632 vehicles in October - the first rise in three months.

However, Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s domestic sales fell 3.6% to 21, 878 vehicles, marking the first fall in two months.

Honda's stronger performance in October suggests the carmaker might be past the worst of its slump in its home market. The company's sales had fallen sharply in the past year due to a lack of new models to offer consumers, and stiff competition from Toyota and other rivals that stepped up efforts to penetrate the minivan market, where Honda is relatively strong. In late October, Honda slashed its unit sales target for the Japanese market for the current fiscal year ending March 2004 to 765,000 vehicles from 815,000 vehicles, reflecting its setback at home.

However, the Life mini-car model that Honda launched in September helped bolster sales in October. Unit sales of mini-vehicles, or vehicles with engine capacities of 660 cubic centimeters, soared 68.5% on year to 31,406 in October.

Industry observers expect the upturn in Honda's domestic sales to continue for the time being as the company has recently become more aggressive in launching new models.

Honda President Takeo Fukui predicted last month that his company's prospects at home would turn for the better in October thanks to the Life mini-car and Honda's partly remodeled Step Wagon minivan. He said he hoped domestic sales would keep picking up in Japan, lifted by demand for the new Odyssey minivan that Honda rolled out last month.

Toyota, Nissan Overseas Output Rise To Record Highs

Toyota, which won Motor Trend magazine's "Car of the Year" award in the U.S. with its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid car, Nissan and Honda all boosted overseas production in October - continuing a trend that reflects efforts to cut costs by shifting production to cheaper facilities overseas as well as reduce exposure to foreign-exchange fluctuations.

Toyota's overseas production jumped 25.2% on year to 257,491 vehicles in October, the highest for any single month ever and marking the 22nd consecutive month of increase.

Nissan's overseas output rose 25.7% to a record high for a single month of 156,448 vehicles in October, while Honda boosted overseas production 23.6% to 162,067 vehicles in the month, the 34th consecutive month of growth.

However, not all the carmakers boosted output at home.

Honda Motor hit the brakes hard, reducing domestic output by 11.4% on year to 107,086, the ninth straight month of cutbacks. Mitsubishi Motors's output in Japan fell 1.6% to 65,592 vehicles, marking the first decline in two months.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor's domestic output in October rose 0.7% to 337,190 vehicles, the second straight increase. Nissan Motor lifted its domestic output by 0.9% to 128,328 vehicles, the 20th straight rise while Mazda Motor's domestic production rose 15.9% to 74,455 vehicles, the second straight month of increase.