REPORT: Honda's $2.91 billion drop is first quarterly loss in 15 years
An operating loss of ¥283.0 billion ($2.91 billion at current exchange rates) for the period ending March 31 represents Honda Motor Company's first quarterly loss in 15 years. To put that into proper perspective, that was when Honda was plying the 1994 model year Accord wagon shown above.
The automaker also reported global sales to distributors and dealers were down 680,000 units, or more than 35 percent. In North America alone, volume slid from 459,000 units last year, to just 219,000 units this year. For the period, Honda reported regional operating losses in all major markets.
While the news was anything but pretty, the automaker is still faring better than many of its rivals. Chrysler LLC and General Motors are currently toiling to stay afloat. Closer to home, rival Toyota is expected to announce its first loss later this month. Honda's Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo, however, is reportedly confidently optimistic. The company will focus on fuel efficient vehicles, leverage its flexible manufacturing, and engage in aggressive cost cutting to keep the company profitable in the current fiscal year, even as sales are predicted to continue their decline.
[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Greg 6:36PM (5/05/2009)
I think it should be 1994 Accord, not 2004
Reply
Enigmatic 6:05PM (4/28/2009)
Not particularly surprising considering the current downward trend of pretty much every automaker thanks to the slumping economy.
Reply
fixitfixitstop 6:08PM (4/28/2009)
Oh sure... Use a photo of the sorely-missed Accord wagon for a bad news article. I SEE THROUGH YOUR SUV AGENDA.
Reply
zamafir 6:14PM (4/28/2009)
"While the news was anything but pretty, the automaker is still faring better than many of its rivals. Chrysler LLC and General Motors are currently toiling to stay afloat. Closer to home, rival Toyota is expected to announce its first loss later this month."
So now that VW's overtaken Toyota and GM, and is posting a decline in profits but not a loss, having made $243,000,000e, they're not a rival to honda on the global scale? news to me.
Reply
ken 11:40PM (4/28/2009)
even in this worst quater (toyota down 30%, GM? I am not sure their global sale numbers., VW is still selling way less than toyota, and maybe GM too.
and with their 30 years old models selling in China and Brazil...
Mursin 6:11PM (4/28/2009)
Dont you mean 1994 model year Accord wagon
Reply
Farris 6:33PM (4/28/2009)
Seems as though it's been fixed now.
P.V. 6:11PM (4/28/2009)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Reply
the_MVP_X 7:30PM (4/28/2009)
Shut up, all the car makers are in trouble, and maybe Honda will learn from their mistakes and make good looking fan and sporty cars, like the Integra, NSX, RSX, the killed S2000 and others.
Carlos 8:03PM (4/28/2009)
That is the silliest comment I've read in a while. Sports cars are niche vehicles for car companies selling make 20-50k a year. They make their money on main stream cars and trucks.
That's why I love Honda, they have stuck to their guns through out the years and (relatively) haven't let politics get in the way of business.
Randy915 9:17PM (4/28/2009)
Like how Toyota stuck to their guns at making boring cars in the interest of volume profit? Automakers don't have to sell to the masses in order to make a buck and the Integra / S2000 / Prelude are the reasons why to this day Honda still has the cool-factor edge over Toyota.
Hybridthry84 6:12PM (4/28/2009)
Shouldn't the year listed be 1994, not 2004?
Reply
6TimeAcuraOwner 6:22PM (4/28/2009)
Well, maybe now we understand the reasoning for using a huge chunk of cheap primer gray plastic as the corporate 'face' of your luxury line
Reply
compy386 6:24PM (4/28/2009)
OMG FORD LOST LESS MONEY!!!!
Reply
jbuers 6:27PM (4/28/2009)
2009-15=2004
:D
Public education at its finest!
Reply
Bigbuck17 6:29PM (4/28/2009)
$2.9 billion isn't that much,I lose more than that playin slot machines.
Reply
indymcsc 7:02PM (4/28/2009)
Maybe if they built cars people wanted. Oh wait, that's only for US auto makers.
Reply
whofan 9:09PM (4/28/2009)
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Big Rocket 9:40PM (4/28/2009)
@indymcsc, whofan:
1. First quarterly loss in 15 years for Honda, versus how many quarterly losses for the Big 3? That's the difference between life and (near) death.
2. The Big 3 actually did make vehicles that people wanted: SUVs. Trouble was, the Big 3 focused most (read: almost all) of their R&D funds and effort on the profitable SUV segment, while other segments (family sedans, small cars, etc) became uncompetitive. Conventional wisdom says to diversify your portfolio to guard against the unexpected (over $4/gallon of gas), and the Big 3 did not do that in their quest for short-term gains.
Yikes 9:15AM (4/29/2009)
I would not say that GM, Ford and Chrysler actually spent much on R&D for those SUVs. The engines, platforms......are all borrowed from their trucks, and those have been used for decades.