Honda Reports 2013-2014 Sales Results

A strong fourth quarter helped Honda see a 9.8% increase in motorcycle sales and a 9.3% increase in motorcycle revenue for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.

The Japanese manufacturer reported sales of 17.0 million motorcycles and ATVs over the fiscal year, up from the 15.5 million sold in the previous year. Honda’s worldwide motorcycle sales increased in each of the previous seven quarters going from 3.8 million in the Q2 last year to 4.5 million in the most recently completed quarter.

Asian sales continue to form the bulk of Honda’s results, accounting for 14.6 million motorcycles sold over the fiscal year, up 11.5% from 13.0 million. Honda credits the increase to the performance of the Dream Neo, Activa and CB Shine in India as well as the BeAT FI and Vario Techno 125 in Indonesia.

Honda’s North American sales also increased over the past year, increasing 10.4% to 276,000 units from 250,000 units sold the previous year. This past quarter was especially strong for North American sales, with Honda reporting sales of 83,000 motorcycles, up 20.3% from 69,000 units in the same quarter last year, despite a cold couple of months across much of the continent.

Motorcycle sales generated ¥1.67 trillion (US$16.3 billion) in revenue, compared to ¥1.34 trillion last year, thanks to increased volume sales as well as favorable exchange rate for the Japanese yen. Overall, Honda Motor Company reported a net profit of ¥574.1 billion (US$5.6 billion) for its 2013-2014 fiscal year, up considerably from the profit of ¥367.1 billion reported last year.

For the 2014-2015 fiscal year, Honda forecasts sales of 18,2 million motorcycles.

[Source: Honda]

By Dennis Chung