Honda saw Group motorcycle sales for its financial year ended March 31st, 2014 grow by 9.8 percent, to some 17 million units (up by some 1.5m PTWs and ATVs), thanks to a strong fourth quarter in which it sold 4.5m units, up from some 4m units in the year-ago quarter, marking a 7th straight quarter of growth.
Some 14.6m units were sold in Asia (up +11.5 percent), with North American sales also growing strongly - up 10.4 percent to approximately 276,000 units; North American fourth quarter sales (the first three months of 2014) were up 20.3 percent at around 83,000 units.
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| The 750cc NM4 ("New Model") 'Vultus' is a v-twin motorycycle with maxi-scooter technology that is designed to attract riders who may be intimidated by conventianal motorcycle characteristics. The styling is straight out of Japanese Magna culture - no surprise that Honda chose the London ComiCon event for its European debut in May |
For the 2013/2014 financial year motorcycle sales generated some 1.67 trillion Yen in revenue (approx €12bn/US$16bn), thanks as much to improved exchange rates as to unit growth, and overall (including automotive, power products etc.) Honda saw profits jump from Yen367bn in 2012/2013 to Yen574bn in 2013/2014 - approx €4.1bn/US$5.6bn.
Honda are projecting further growth this year, with motorcycle sales for their 2014/2015 financial year forecast to increase again, to around 18.2m units (7 percent growth).
No doubt the company will be hoping that some of that growth will come from its ongoing new model blitz, including the radically styled 750cc v-twin NM4 'Vultus', which is due to start arriving in dealerships in Europe and North America in June.
Unveiled at the Osaka and Tokyo Motorcycle Shows earlier this year, Honda are hoping that 'Vultus' will come to define a new class - one that the 'Vultus' will populate with a new young urban demographic to whom the edgy, futuristic 'Magna'/"Japanimation" styling speaks in a way that other motorcycles don't.
The NM4 ("New Model" 4) features a low seat height, a Combined Brake System that includes dual-channel ABS, and Honda's proprietary Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) - an electronically-controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).
