Honda's (HMC) Global Production Down 4.1% in January - Analyst Blog
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.’s (HMC) worldwide production volume for Jan 2015 was 363,161 units, down 4.1% from Jan 2014. Production outside Japan improved 7.6% to 303,029 units, which is the highest record for any January uptil now. Meanwhile, production in Japan plunged 38.1% to 60,132 units in the month.
The increased production outside Japan resulted from a 9.1% rise in production in Asia to 120,566 units and an 8.8% improvement in North America to 157,642 units, both of which are record highs for the month of January. Other regions also registered a 3.9% increase in production to 12,925 units. However, these were partially offset by a 14.5% decline in production in Europe to 11,896 units. It is worth noting that the record high production volume in Asia was achieved despite a 14.9% decline in China.
Sales in the Japanese market went down 30.5% year over year to 63,604 units in January. New vehicle registrations plunged 39.5% to 29,893 units. Mini vehicles sales fell 19.9% to 33,711 units.
The Honda Fit, which recorded sales of 11,628 units, was the second best-selling vehicle in the industry among new vehicle registrations (excluding mini vehicles) in Jan 2015. VEZEL was the ninth top-selling vehicle with sales of 6,451 units.
Under the Mini vehicles category, N-BOX was the best-selling vehicle, with sales of 18,643 units. N-WGN was the fourth highest-selling vehicle in the industry, with sales of 10,177 units.
Exports from Japan plummeted 35.5% year over year to 2,427 units in January. The decline resulted from lower exports to all markets except Europe.
Currently, Honda carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked automobile stocks include Superior Industries International, Inc. (SUP), Tata Motors Limited (TTM) and Wabash National Corp. (WNC), all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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