Honda Expects 20% U.S. Sales Gain on Resigned CR-V SUV, Accord
Honda Motor Co. (7267), seeking to revive flagging U.S. sales after production delays and unfavorable reviews for some new products, expects to boost U.S. sales by more than 20 percent this year, helped by improved Civic supplies and its redesigned CR-V and Accord, President Takanobu Ito said.
Honda, Japan’s third-largest automaker, had a 6.8 percent sales decline in the U.S., its biggest market last year, the result of inventory shortages caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand. The Tokyo-based company’s revamped Civic that went on sale last year also drew a negative assessment from Consumer Reports magazine, which has typically rated the model as among the industry’s best in the compact car segment.
“Our competitors have been introducing a lot of products, but we don’t think that the competitiveness of Civic, Accord and CR-V is insufficient,” Ito told reporters through a translator today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Honda, along with Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), lost sales last year to faster-growing Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) and Kia Motors Corp., as well as to revitalized U.S.-based General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. (F) While those companies had better vehicle supply, they also have released new models that have drawn more praise for exterior and interior styling than has Honda for some of its recent model line additions.
The CR-V is Honda’s small sport-utility vehicle, whose U.S. sales rose 7.2 percent last year. The midsize Accord sedan slid 17 percent to 235,625 and trailed competitors including Toyota’s Camry, Nissan Motor Co.’s Altima and Ford’s Fusion. Honda’s smaller Civic saw its U.S. sales slide 15 percent to 221,235 in 2011.
Honda is showing a revamped Acura line today in Detroit, including the ILX small sedan, compact RDX crossover and NSX sports car, followed tomorrow by the new Accord due in 2012’s second half.
Honda’s U.S. unit is based in Torrance, California.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Detroit at aohnsman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net
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