Honda has claimed today (26th September) that the ongoing financial crisis in the US will not affect the considerable demand it is currently experiencing in the country.

The second-biggest Japanese automaker posted an increase of 1.2 per cent in its US sales during August, while the industry as a whole saw demand slump by 11 per cent.

This trend has largely been attributed to the strength of its fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Fit and the Civic, while it has not been hit hard by the collapsing market for bigger trucks and V8 engines.

Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said: "Due to the subprime crisis our bigger cars V6 upward are not selling well. But [with the] Civic, we are not able to keep up with demand.

"Thanks to our strong line up, we don't see any major impact on our planned (sales) numbers."

Although the company does not have a small diesel car at present, Mr Fukui also added that he is aware of the importance of such models.

The Fit, or Jazz as it is known in some markets, is Honda's smallest car but the company will reportedly be launching another,even smaller, model in India next year - although it is not yet known if this will have a diesel engine.



Source:

UPDATE 1-Honda: fin crisis won't substantially impact f'cast (26/09/08)
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSDEL34741620080925?sp=true