Every automobile company usually don’t fail to be optimistic in terms of sales and deliveries of their vehicles. The same is the case with Honda Motor Co. as well. The Jap automaker has been reported to be expecting a growth of 40-plus percent in the deliveries of its cars in US in the month of August. The expectations came out as a result of the growing demands of the Civic small cars and CR-V crossovers too. The annual rise have been seen to shoot up by 27%, leading to company’s best sales in the region in five years.
Expectations are there that Honda and Acura vehicles’ deliveries would reach around 1.46 million by the end of this year. In an interview in Santa Barbara, Calif on Thursday, company’s Executive Vice President John Mendel said, “That would be Tokyo-based Honda’s best U.S. sales since 2007 as its North American plants work overtime to supply dealers asking for more Civics and CR-Vs.”
He further said, “We’re running at 120 to 130 percent of capacity at some of our plants, and still it’s my leaky tub,” Mendel said. “When sales are increasing at the same rate your production is increasing, you’re not gaining ground in inventory.”
With increasing production of the Honda cars in the North American plant, the carmaker planned to accelerate US sales in the second half of the year. The company this added a new Accord sedan and even a modified Civic small car in the fleet. Honda’s U.S. deliveries were noticed to have grown by 19 percent in the year’s first seven months, aided by a 45 percent gain in July.
Commenting on increased production, Mendel said, “Production is surging to make up for lost inventory last year and dealer shortages that continued into 2012’s first quarter. With industry wide sales continuing to rebound, dealers simply want more vehicles. Coming into August, I think we’re in very good shape, in terms of inventory and attitude of dealers. Accord is moving very well. Civic is moving well. CR-V is doing well.”
Another half of the increment story includes increased spending by the company, as Mendel said, “Incentives, mainly in the form of discounted loans and leases, have risen particularly on the Accord as the model is soon to be replaced.” Average money spent by the company in July was 2,263 USD (up by 8.9%than last year). Mendel again mentioned that the spending of money should be moderate after the launch of Accord in September. He finally concluded by saying, “The bottom line is if it’s higher than zero, it’s higher than we want it.”