TOKYO (AP) – Honda’s fiscal first quarter profit fell 33 per cent from last year as a global computer chip shortage, a pandemic-related lockdown in China and the rising costs of raw materials hurt the Japanese automaker.
Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co reported yesterday that its profit totalled JPY149.2 billion (USD1.1 billion) in the April-June quarter, down from JPY222.5 billion (USD1.7 billion) a year earlier. Quarterly sales slipped seven per cent to JPY3.8 trillion (USD28 billion).
Honda kept its profit forecast for the full fiscal year through March 2023 unchanged at JPY710 billion (USD5.3 billion).
The semiconductor shortage has hurt all the world’s automakers, including Honda, despite strong demand, and the manufacturers have been scrambling to secure alternative suppliers.
Honda, which makes the Accord sedan, Odyssey minivan and Civic compact, sold about 815,000 vehicles last quarter, down from 998,000 vehicles the same period a year earlier.
Auto sales dropped in almost all regions around the world, including Japan, the United States (US) and Europe.
“I ask for the understanding from all those who are still waiting for their vehicles and vow that our whole company is doing its utmost to make the deliveries even a day sooner,” Chief Financial Officer Kohei Takeuchi said.
Takeuchi said the semiconductor shortage curtailed motorcycle production as well as car production, adding to uncertainty about future prospects.
Honda said the recent lockdown in Shanghai was among the causes of the shortage in computer chips supply but declined to give specifics.
Although US sales are potentially facing a dent from recession worries and other economic hardships, Takeuchi acknowledged he was more worried about the shortage problem and producing the cars customers were waiting for.
