Honda has released data for the first quarter of its current financial year (the three months to June 30th 2014) that show it selling 4.137m units, up fractionally (+0.083 percent) from the 4.054m units sold in the same quarter of 2013.
The company reduced its full year unit forecast to the end of March 2015 by 0.16 percent to 18.080m units for the full year; if achieved, that would represent 1.059 percent unit growth over its 2013/2014 full-year performance.
In other news, Moto Honda da Amazonia Ltda, Honda's Brazilian subsidiary, has celebrated production of the 20 millionth motorcycle at its Manaus factory since production started there in 1976.
The landmark was reached with a CG150 Titan, a new model introduced for the Brazilian market at the start of this month - said to be the first bike to go on sale in Brazil to feature front and rear CBS (Combined Braking System). Honda reached the 10m production mark in Brazil in 2007, and last year sold 1.22 m units, which the company says accounts for some 80 percent of motorcycle sales in Brazil.
In Europe, Honda has announced that it has renewed its MotoGP contract with Dani Pedrosa, which will keep the Spaniard racing for Honda through to the end of the 2016 season. Marc Marquez's win at Barcelona in June saw Honda Racing score its 100th MotoGP win since the introduction of the four-stroke category in 2002.
The new 2015 Honda CRFs were unveiled by HRC MX riders Evgeny Bobryshev and Tim Gajser at the MX GP in Italy in June, and has announced renewal of its Trials contract with Takahisa Fukinami for 2015.
Elsewhere, Honda's plans to enter the executive jet market have reached another landmark, with the first flight of a production version aircraft at Honda Aircraft Company's world headquarters at Greensboro, North Carolina, at the end of June.
The company expects to achieve certification and entry into service for the advanced twin "over-wing" mount engined single pilot certified jet next year.
HondaJet say their new plane is "the fastest, most spacious and most fuel-efficient jet in its class", with a maximum cruise speed of 483 mph (777 kmh), a maximum altitude of 43,000 feet (13.000 m), and seats 5 in standard cabin configuration. Custom colour options are available on request.
