Honda Japan and India notch all-time production and sales record in May

May 2014 proved to be a blessing in disguise for Honda Motor Company as two of its Asian markets – Japan and India – posted record monthly production and domestic sales.

While Japan topped in both sales and production for the month, India was a close second. Total domestic automobile sales in the Japanese market witnessed a year-on-year (YoY) increase for the 10th consecutive month (since August 2013) posting an 18.8 percent growth with total sales of 53,988 units. Honda Cars India in turn recorded monthly domestic sales of13,362 units in May 2014, with a growth of 18 percent (May 2013: 11,342) due to the good showing of the new City sedan and continuing strong sales of the Amaze sedan. The Amaze has accounted for sales of 88,000 units since its launch in April last year. The new City was the company’s best-seller last month with 7,218 units going home to new buyers. During April-May 2014, Honda Cars India notched 23 percent growth with sales of 24,402 units against 19,830 units during the corresponding two-month period last year.

In Japan, the Fit was the industry’s top-selling car among new vehicle registrations for May 2014 with sales of 12,984 units. The Vezel was the industry’s sixth best-selling car with sales of 7,899 units. In the mini-vehicles segment, under-660cc category, the N-Box was the industry’s third best-selling car in the mini-vehicle category for May 2014 with sales of 10,312 units. The N-WGN was the seventh best-seller with sales of 7,978 units. Overall, Honda in Japan grew 32.2 percent between January-May 2014 with sales of 407,331 units. New vehicle registrations saw a YoY increase for the ninth consecutive month (since September 2013) in Japan. However sales of mini-vehicles experienced a YoY decrease for the second consecutive month (since April 2014).

Production on a high

Honda’s production in May 2014 also rose to record levels with a year-on-year increase of 50.7 percent at 80,500 units for the ninth consecutive month (since September 2013). Production in regions outside Japan experienced a YoY increase for the fourth consecutive month (since February 2014), with a record high production of 299,916 units and a growth of 1.9 percent. This includes an all-time monthly record for production in Asia, and record high production for May in China.

In India, Honda’s production grew 10.65 percent with 13,298 units in May 2014; YoY growth for April-May FY’15 was 0.34 percent with 22,619 units rolling out of the company’s plants.

Production worldwide saw a YoY increase for the 10th consecutive month (since August 2013) of 9.4 percent, setting a record high production for May 2014.

However, total exports for the carmaker nosedived from both its Japan and India operations. While Honda Japan saw overseas shipments decrease 79.4 percent YoY for the seventh consecutive month (since November 2013) in May 2014, Honda Cars India’s exports fell 29.81 percent at 518 units.

Photograph: The Honda Amaze line at the Greater Noida plant, India.