Honda's (HMC) Global Production Increases 6.5% In April

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.’s (NYSE:HMC) production in Japan fell 0.7% to 51,581 units in April. Production outside Japan increased 7.7% to 352,161 units, which was a record high for the month of April. Consequently, worldwide production volume for Apr 2016 was 403,742 units, up 6.5% from the figure reported in Apr 2015. Honda’s global production volume was a record high for the month of April.

Production outside Japan was driven by a 4.4% rise to 169,843 units in North America, and a 15.6% increase to 160,198 units in Asia, both of which were April records. These improvements offset the 13.3% fall in production in Europe to 9,866 units and a 15.3% decline in other regions to 12,254 units. Production in China reached an April high of 94,199 units.

Sales in the Japanese market improved 8.8% year over year to 45,317 units in April. This is the first increase since Nov 2015. New vehicle registrations went up 8.4% to 24,021 units. Mini vehicles’ sales grew 9.1% to 21,296 units.

The Honda Fit, which recorded sales of 7,116 units, was the fourth best-selling vehicle in the industry among new vehicle registrations (excluding mini vehicles) in Apr 2016. VEZEL was the ninth top-selling vehicle, with sales of 4,635 units.

Under the Mini vehicles category, N-BOX was the best-selling vehicle, with sales of 11,692 units. N-WGN was the seventh highest-selling vehicle in the industry, with sales of 5,356 units.

Exports from Japan soared 673.9% year over year to 10,649 units in April. This was the tenth continuous month of increase in exports.

Honda currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Some better-ranked automobile stocks include Lear Corp. (NYSE:LEA) , Superior Industries International, Inc. (NYSE:SUP) and Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).