HONDA: October surprises with 4.2% drop

American Honda got an unpleasant October surprise with sales dipping 4.2 percent for the month to 126,161 vehicles sold.Car sales for both the Honda and Acura divisions were particularly hard hit, dropping a combined 10 percent while light-truck sales were up 2 percent overall, the automaker said today.Sales at the Honda division dropped 2 percent overall to 113,292 vehicles sold as most of its core models suffered losses.The Accord was down 15 percent to 25,551 sales, the Civic dipped 5 percent to 26,359 sales, the outgoing Odyssey shrank 13 percent to 7,622 sales and the Pilot large crossover plunged 33 percent to 8,677 sales.The CR-V compact crossover was a rare bright spot, rising 4.4 percent to 30,306 sales as Honda began preparing for the next-generation CR-V due by the end of this year.The Acura division suffered an even steeper drop; sales overall were down 20 percent to 12,869 total vehicles.Acura’s cars were down a dramatic 50 percent over October of 2015, falling to just 3,873 vehicles sold. Its SUVs provided a lifeline, rising 8.4 percent to 8,996 vehicles sold, largely on the strength of the MDX, which rose 15 percent to 5,052 sales.The October decline put Acura at 132,596 vehicles sold for the first 10 months of the year, slipping just behind Cadillac but staying ahead of Infiniti on the luxury sales chart.

HONDA: October surprises with 4.2% drop

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