Ecological approach works for Honda

• Source: Shanghai Daily
• [08:00 July 30 2009]
• Comments

The previous fiscal year, Honda posted a 137 billion yen profit - a result that's dismal for once-booming Honda, reflecting the fallout from the financial crisis.

Honda's quarterly sales tumbled 30.2 percent to 2.002 trillion yen from 2.867 trillion yen a year earlier.

It sold 766,000 vehicles around the world during the quarter, down 20.4 percent, mainly because of crashing sales in the key North American market.

For the full fiscal year, Honda expects to sell 3.295 million vehicles globally, better than its April projection of 3.2 million. For the fiscal year ended March 31, Honda's global vehicle sales totaled a stronger 3.52 million vehicles.

With mature markets the United States, Europe and Japan stagnant, Honda is looking to new markets for growth. Honda said earlier this week that it posted record production in China for the first half of this year.

Besides making popular cars, such as the Odyssey minivan and Fit subcompact, Honda also makes motorcycles, small jets and the Asimo walking human-shaped robot.