Honda’s results for the first quarter of its current financial year to 30 June show an improvement in volume sales, revenue and profit for its motorcycle business.
During the period, total global sales of Honda-branded bikes increased by 3.7 per cent to 4.054 million units. Bikes manufactured by Honda itself rather than joint-venture affiliates were up by 0.2 per cent to 2.371 million units. Growth was attributed to a strong performance in Asia (notably Indonesia, India and Thailand) and North America successfully offsetting decreases elsewhere — principally Brazil, but also Europe and Japan.
In Europe, volume fell by 13.3 per cent to 52,000 units. Honda says that, despite a positive contribution from its CB500 series and other new model introductions, this was due to ongoing contraction in Southern European markets.
Revenue from motorcycles rose by 14.5 per cent to £2.67bn. However, currency translation effects thanks to the weaker yen were largely responsible for this surge and weaker model mix actually had a negative impact. Resultant operating profit was up by 15.7 per cent to £286m.Â