Honda Sold 16.8 Million Motorcycles in 2013

Honda announced sales of 16.8 million motorcycles in 2013, an improvement of 8.7% from the 15.5 million motorcycles sold in 2012. The announcement was made two days before Honda’s third quarter report for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2013, so we will have to wait to hear the financial impact, but based on these numbers, the quarterly report should be positive. (NOTE: Honda’s accounting includes ATV as motorcycles, but they only represent a small fraction of the totals.)

Sales were up in most regions for Honda, though the company does report a drop in Japan as well as its Europe, Middle East and Africa division. The Japanese manufacturer’s domestic business sold 219,000 motorcycles, down 1.2% from 221,000 in 2012. The news was worse for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, where sales dropped 5.2% to 323,000 from 341,000 motorcycles.

North American sales rose in 2013, increasing 5.5% to 278,000 from 264,000 motorcycles. Sales in South America stayed practically level with 2012, with a 0.2% increase to 1.66 million units.

But the biggest increases came in China and the Asia and Oceania regions. Honda sales in China increased 5.0% to 1.35 million motorcycles from 1.29 million. The Asia and Oceania region saw the biggest growth, with Honda selling 12.96 billion motorcycles in 2013, up 10.7% from sales of 11.7 billion motorcycles in 2012.

[Source: Honda]

By Dennis Chung