Honda to increase vehicle sales to 4mln units

Honda Motor Co. plans to expand its global automobile sales to 4 million units in fiscal 2007 from 3. 24 million in fiscal 2004 which ended in March, the company said Wednesday.

Honda will introduce new models in major markets, including the United States where vehicle sales have been robust, as well as China where demand is expected to grow, Honda's President Takeo Fukui told a news conference.

The new models include the remodeled Civic that will debut this fall, he said.

In Japan where auto sales have leveled off, Honda will enhance its marketing efforts to achieve a sales increase, the president said.

With an expansion in motorcycle and power generator sales as well as an increase in automobile sales, Fukui said, Honda plans to boost its consolidated sales to more than 10 trillion yen (89 billion US dollars) in fiscal 2007 from 8.65 trillion yen (77 billion dollars) in fiscal 2004.

Fukui also said Honda will improve fuel efficiency in order to contribute to slowing global warming.

In this respect, Honda plans to launch a fuel cell motorcycle model for lease by 2009, based on the fuel cell stack technology developed for automobiles, he said.

Source: Xinhua