HONDA-ACURA: Double-digit gains in Q3

American Honda Motor Co., which comprises Honda and Acura, posted total third-quarter sales of 339,143, an increase of 53 percent over last year.

Mamadou Diallo, American Honda senior vice president of auto sales, attributed the results to high demand for both cars and light trucks as well as hybrid variants of the Honda Accord midsize car and CR-V compact crossover.

The Accord and CR-V hybrids logged sales of 218,684 through the first nine months of the year, according to the company.

Lance Woelfer, assistant vice president of Honda national auto sales, told Automotive News that half of all Accord and CR-V shoppers are opting for the hybrid variants.

In September, Honda and Acura's combined sales of 115,437 were up 45 percent from the year-earlier period, marking seven consecutive months of growth for the automaker.

The company did note that despite strong growth in the month and the quarter, some models continue to be affected by supply constraints.

Brands: Honda's third-quarter sales of 302,250 were up 51 percent compared with the third quarter of 2022 on high dealer turn rates and consumer demand, especially for core nameplates such as the Civic compact, Accord and CR-V.
Woelfer said the brand is on track to meet its goal of 1.2 million sales for the year.

"Sales of 110,000 vehicles per month is very reasonable for us to do over the next three months," he said.

Honda brand's September sales of 102,765 were up 44 percent over the year-earlier month. The Civic had its best month of 2023, with sales of 18,696. The HR-V subcompact crossover is enjoying improved supply and posted its best month since April 2022. The CR-V topped 30,000 sales for the seventh month in a row.

Sales of the Pilot midsize crossover slid 20 percent in September on tighter availability, but Woelfer said Honda expects to make up for the dip in October.

"There's an opportunity for us to expand our light-truck sales because we anticipate improved arrivals in the fourth quarter, and there's a lot of upside for models like Pilot," Woelfer said.

Acura, Honda's luxury arm, reached sales of 36,893 in the third quarter, an increase of 69 percent from the third quarter of 2022. Acura's September sales of 12,672 were up 55 percent over the year-earlier month. That's the ninth-straight month of gains for the brand.

Sales of the compact Integra topped 24,000 through the first nine months of the year, sales of the MDX surpassed 4,000 for the 13th consecutive month, and the RDX posted its best sales month in two years.

Notable nameplates: Honda Accord, up 51% in September, up 74% in Q3; Civic, up 99% in September, up 104% in Q3; CR-V, up 56% in September, up 59% in Q3; Passport, up 2.2% in September, down 9.2% in Q3; Pilot, down 20% in September, down 3.3% in Q3; Ridgeline, down 1.5% in September, down 3% in Q3; Acura Integra, up 81% in September, up 83% in Q3; TLX, up 115% in September, up 101% in Q3; MDX, up 7.3% in September, up 35% in Q3; RDX, up 178% in September, up 110% in Q3

Fleet mix: Woelfer said that across the industry fleet has been increasing, but "that is not the place Honda has been really engaged in."

Inventory: About 36,800 Honda brand vehicles were in dealer stock to start October, up from 31,900 at the beginning of September and 18,000 a year earlier.

Quote: "We still see strong demand in the segments where we compete, and there continues to be upside potential, and certainly for Honda because we tend to be outperforming what we're seeing in the rest of the industry. I'm not seeing any downside for Honda at this point." Lance Woelfer, assistant vice president of Honda national auto sales.

Did you know? Honda has not felt any impact from the UAW strike against the Detroit 3.