Honda Production Declines for 12th Straight Month

Honda, the first Japanese maker to make cars in the U.S., is now so integrated that the declining Yen is less of a problem for it than other makers. Still, production in the U.S. is off 32%.

Honda Motor Company reports for the month of October that production in Japan declined for the 12th straight month. In other regions Honda operates in it was the 13th monthly decline, although production in Asia and China set records.

This means the number two Japanese automaker has thus far been unable to shake off the negative effects of the ongoing global Great Recession that began more than a year ago with the collapse of the financial markets.

In relative terms Honda is in much better financial shape than the two ailing Japanese companies flanking it, number one Toyota and number three Nissan, both of which have been posting far higher financial  losses and are vulnerable to the declining value of the Yen.

Total Honda exports from Japan in October 2009 experienced a year-on-year decrease for the 13th consecutive month.

In the all-important U.S. market, the company’s most profitable, Honda saw production decline 15%, a slight improvement from trend. Year to date, though, Honda is off 32% compared to the same period in 2008. In U.S. sales Honda year-to-date is off about 300,000 vehicles, the equivalent output of almost two final assembly plants.

Japan’s second largest automaker predicts net income of ¥155 billion (about $1.7 billion) in the year ending next March, compared with its earlier forecast of ¥55 billion.

Charts follow.

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