Honda CEO expects sales in the U.S. to increase by almost 25% this year
By Andrew, 10 Jan, 2012. 0 Comments
2012 Honda Civic
In 2011, Honda faced one setback after another, prompting CEO Takanobu Ito to remove the bad luck by visiting the Nikko Shrine in Tochigi, on New Year’s Day to have all his "bad omens taken away." This shrine is located near Honda's R&D center. Honda’s production wasn’t consistent last year because of the disruption related to the disaster in Japan and the floods in Thailand. Honda’s supplier network, particularly Tier 2 and 3 suppliers, were in disarray.
After making the visit, Ito said that he is more confident about the recovery in 2012. He estimates that this year, Honda sales in the U.S. will increase by almost 25% with sales of 13.5 million units. Honda brand sales will increase to 1.25 million units from 1.024 million in 2011. Honda is relying on the launch of the redesigned CR-V and Accord for this sales improvement.
American Honda CEO Tetsuo Iwamura said that due to a redesigned RDX and a new ILX sedan, the Acura brand’s sales are expected to go up from 123,000 to 180,000. This would stand for a 24.7% sales increase in a year. American Honda sales in 2011 dropped by 7%. Iwamura said that many industry observers thought that the shortage in Honda units because of the natural disasters meant that Honda had lost its edge. But he announced that 2012 for Honda will be a year when it will be competitive in the market. He cited that the manufacturing in North America has had a full recovery. He also said that since Oct. 29, production has been “100% or more.” [source: Autonews]
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