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Honda reports $2.3 billion profit despite pandemic

TOKYO — Japanese automaker Honda reported Friday that its profit rose 23% in the last quarter, despite a pandemic that has slammed businesses around the world. Tokyo-based Honda said its July-September profit was 240.9 billion yen ($2.3 billion), up from 196.5 billion yen a year earlier, as the auto market recovered in some parts of the world. Honda said it carried out aggressive cost cuts that involved a “fundamental review” of its operations. The situation was also improving from earlier this year, when lockdowns and other problems related to COVID-19 caused disruptions of some production and an inventory crunch. Quarterly sales slipped to 3.65 trillion yen ($35 billion) from 3.73 trillion yen the same period a year earlier. Honda warned that uncertainty remains amid rising COVID-19 cases. But the company stressed it was managing to cling to profitability. Reflecting that upbeat mood, Honda raised its profit forecast for the fiscal year through March 2021 to 390 billion yen ($3.8 billion) from an earlier projection for 165 billion yen ($1.6 billion). The latest forecast is still lower than the 455.7 billion yen profit Honda booked in the previous fiscal year. Honda sold slightly more vehicles in the quarter through September at 1.25 million vehicles, compared to 1.24 million vehicles in the same period of 2019. But it sold fewer motorcycles at nearly 4.5 million motorcycles, down from nearly 5.1 million. Kohei Takeuchi, a senior Honda manager, said much of the damage to sales likely came from the pandemic, though he hesitated to blame the entire decline on the pandemic. Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi told reporters Honda is bullish on shifting its lineup to ecological models to keep up with the global efforts to curb carbon emissions and global warming. Also Friday, Toyota raised its full year fiscal forecasts to a 1.4 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) profit, after reporting results that appear to show a gradual but sure recovery. Its profit fell 11% in the last quarter. Nissan reports financial results next week. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Acura Honda

OK Go ride Honda UNI-CUB ? in latest amazeballs music video

When Honda unveiled the slimmed-down ?eta version of its Uni-Cub last year, it might have thought the minimalist electric vehicle would find its most enthusiastic audience inside office buildings, where it would simultaneously lighten the load of worker drones and perhaps inject a bit of rolling robotic tech-type fun into an otherwise drab and dreary day. It was wrong. Clearly, this personal mobility machine was destined for greater things. Honda paid for the new video, which was shot a half-speed. When you watch it, you'll know why. For instance, it could be used for electric unicycle square dancing (Okay, technically the Uni-Cub ? employs one wheel and a caster-type ball, thereby disqualifying it from unicycle status, but whatever.) Or even better, it could be a platform upon which the power pop group OK Go and a few hundred Japanese school girls could perform awesome maneuvers, including the aforementioned electric unicycle square dancing, in their latest totally amazeballs video. Honda reportedly paid for the new video, which was shot at half-speed and when you watch it, you'll know why. Where before we thought this curious device, with its intuitive steering and self-balancing, would only really ever find a place as a demonstrator of Honda's engineering prowess, we now see it as a foregone conclusion that it will infest our daily lives and fill them with fantastic choreographed journeys of art. Thank you for opening our eyes, Ok Go. To have your own eyes opened, just scroll below for the visual accompaniment to I Won't Let You Down from the new album, Hungry Ghosts. As is the band's wont, it's all done in one take, and is sure to drop your jaw. Ok, go! This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Trump declaration they're a security threat stuns Japanese automakers

TOKYO — Japan's automakers' lobby said on Tuesday it was dismayed by President Donald Trump's declaration that some imported vehicles and parts posed a threat to U.S. national security, as the industry braces for a possible rise in U.S. tariffs. Trump made the unprecedented designation of foreign vehicles on Friday but delayed for up to six months a decision on whether to impose tariffs to allow for more time for trade talks with Japan and the European Union. "We are dismayed to hear a message suggesting that our long-time contributions of investment and employment in the United States are not welcomed," said Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. "As chairman, I am deeply saddened by this decision," Toyoda, president of Toyota, said in a statement. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imported cars made by foreign automakers, a move which automakers have argued would ramp up car prices, curb the global competitiveness of U.S.-made vehicles and limit investment in the country, the world's No. 2 auto market. The United States is a vital market for Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Japanese car makers. Autos and components are among the Asian country's biggest export products. Most of Japan's major automakers operate plants in the United States. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association notes that its automakers build about 4 million vehicles a year in North America, or 75 percent of what it sells here. Many are built for export, helping lessen the U.S. trade deficit Trump is concerned about. Major automakers have announced a slew of investments in the United States since Trump took office in January 2017 and put pressure on the industry to create more U.S. jobs. For its part, Toyota has pledged to invest almost $13 billion in the United States between 2017 and 2021 to boost manufacturing capacity and jobs. This includes $1.6 billion for a vehicle assembly plant in Alabama jointly run with Mazda. Government/Legal Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Nissan Toyota Trump