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Honda Motor Co. expects sales in the US to hit 1.4 million vehicles this year for the first time in three years, fueled mostly by demand for its hybrid and gas-powered models.
The Japanese automaker aims to grow sales 10% in 2024, including as many as 1.3 million Honda brand vehicles and some 150,000 upscale Acura cars and SUVs, according to Mamadou Diallo, the top sales executive at Honda’s US subsidiary.
Honda’s sales in the US soared 33% last year to 1.3 million vehicles — with one-quarter of that total coming from hybrid models, including gas-electric versions of its best-selling CR-V compact SUV and Accord mid-size sedan. That followed a slump in 2022, when Honda sold fewer than a million vehicles for the first time in 25 years. A Honda spokesman said the dip was due to supply and logistics issues that challenged the entire industry.
“We ended 2023 strong and we’re continuing to take that momentum into 2024,” Diallo told reporters at a media briefing, adding the company expects to overcome headwinds such as vehicle affordability and higher interest rates. “We anticipate continued growth but at a more modest pace.”
Diallo said the more normalized growth this year comes after Honda’s fully restored post-pandemic production levels finally have caught up with pent-up demand. But he said the company plans to keep “balanced inventories and days supply” so as not to flood the market.
Initial deliveries of two new all-electric vehicles, the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, are on track for early this year, Diallo said. The pair of vehicles are being manufactured in a General Motors Co. plant that neither company has identified publicly. GM has faced a series of production and software issues with its EV that have forced it to delay deliveries to buyers.
“We’re feeling confident that we’ll be able to meet our targets with these new products,” Diallo said. “We’re confident that some of the software issues will be addressed.”
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