Honda's China sales jump 21% in August
Honda Motor Co. continued to outperform its Japanese rivals in China last month with Honda-brand sales rising 21 percent to 128,671 vehicles.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s August sales grew 13 percent to 108,500 vehicles.
Honda reported strong demand for the Civic compact sedan and the XR-V compact crossover. In August, Civic sales surged 67 percent to 14,315 vehicles while XR-V deliveries jumped 28 percent to 17,300 vehicles.
Honda’s luxury arm, Acura -- a relatively marginal brand in China -- has begun to establish a niche. In August, Acura deliveries jumped 58 percent from a year earlier to 1,373 vehicles. For the first eight months, Acura sales soared 271 percent to 8,946 vehicles. More than 90 percent of deliveries were generated by the CDX compact crossover, the first locally produced Acura model, which went on sale in China last year.
Since the late 1990s, Toyota and Nissan generally had outsold Honda in the market until last year. Honda has turned the tide, thanks to hot-selling models that include the redesigned Civic and a couple of subcompact crossovers.
In the first eight months, Toyota sales rose 7.1 percent to 841,400 vehicles, while Honda-brand deliveries jumped 18 percent to 886,641 vehicles.
Nissan Motor Co., which has not yet reported August sales, trailed Honda in the first seven months. Through July, Nissan sales rose 7.6 percent to 755,319, slightly behind Honda’s sales of 757,970 units.
For the year, Toyota expects China sales to increase modestly to 1.21 million vehicles, up from 1.2 million in 2016, a Toyota spokesman said. Toyota is counting on the popularity of its compact Corolla and Levin models to expand sales.
Honda reported strong demand for the Civic compact sedan and the XR-V compact crossover. In August, Civic sales surged 67 percent to 14,315 vehicles while XR-V deliveries jumped 28 percent to 17,300 vehicles.
Honda’s luxury arm, Acura -- a relatively marginal brand in China -- has begun to establish a niche. In August, Acura deliveries jumped 58 percent from a year earlier to 1,373 vehicles. For the first eight months, Acura sales soared 271 percent to 8,946 vehicles. More than 90 percent of deliveries were generated by the CDX compact crossover, the first locally produced Acura model, which went on sale in China last year.
Since the late 1990s, Toyota and Nissan generally had outsold Honda in the market until last year. Honda has turned the tide, thanks to hot-selling models that include the redesigned Civic and a couple of subcompact crossovers.
In the first eight months, Toyota sales rose 7.1 percent to 841,400 vehicles, while Honda-brand deliveries jumped 18 percent to 886,641 vehicles.
Nissan Motor Co., which has not yet reported August sales, trailed Honda in the first seven months. Through July, Nissan sales rose 7.6 percent to 755,319, slightly behind Honda’s sales of 757,970 units.
For the year, Toyota expects China sales to increase modestly to 1.21 million vehicles, up from 1.2 million in 2016, a Toyota spokesman said. Toyota is counting on the popularity of its compact Corolla and Levin models to expand sales.
