Honda: Summary of 2008 Year-End CEO Speech - NSX CANCELLED
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Showing posts with label Takeo Fukui. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Takeo Fukui. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Friday, 17 October 2008
Honda says no plans to change its earnings guidance
TOKYO, Oct 16 - Honda Motor Co, Japan's second-largest automaker, has no plans to change its earnings guidance despite the yen's renewed strength and worries about a further slowdown in the global economy, its top executive said on Thursday.
The comment came after Toyota Motor Corp President Katsuaki Watanabe said on Wednesday the business environment has deteriorated beyond earlier expectations and predicted the key North American car market would remain sluggish through next year.
Honda president Takeo Fukui told reporters on Thursday: "We will give an update at the announcement of fiscal half results at the end of this month, but at this point we have no plan to revise our full-year earnings estimates."
Honda is basically on track to achieve global sales volume targets and has kept sales promotion costs under control in the United States, the world's largest car market, by adjusting the levels of production and inventory, he said.
Honda expects an operating profit of 630 billion yen ($6.29 billion) for the year to March 2009, below a consensus of a 668.4 billion yen profit in a poll of 19 analysts by Reuters Estimates.
Fukui said the automaker did not see any need to change its business strategy even if the dollar falls slightly below 100 yen.
Honda has assumed the dollar will average 101 yen in the financial year, while Honda vice president Koichi Kondo told reporters on Thursday that the dollar averaged about 108 yen for the company in the April-September first half.
A Toyota company source told Reuters last week that the world's largest automaker was considering what would be a rare downward revision of its earnings outlook because of sluggish global demand and a firmer yen.
In the United States, where car demand is falling amid a deepening credit crisis, Fukui said "at least at this stage, we are not expecting a major drop in our sales" because of shifting demand in favour of fuel-efficient cars, the type of cars Honda focuses on.
Among emerging markets, Honda's car sales are growing in China despite falling demand industry-wide, while the company's motorcycle sales are on track with a plan in India, Fukui said.
On growing signs of an industry realignment, the Honda president said the global car industry is going through a tough time because of soaring fuel and raw materials costs, coupled with cooling consumer sentiment, but that Honda will likely benefit from the demand shift to smaller cars.
"U.S. carmakers, such as General Motors and Ford, reacted too slowly to shifting demand. The age of pickup trucks has ended, and we are not playing in that segment," Fukui said.
He said he would not object to U.S. government-sponsored financial assistance to these rivals, as such a move would also help those parts suppliers which Honda also uses.
Elsewhere in the industry, Ford Motor Co has asked Toyota-affiliated auto parts supplier Denso Corp to buy part of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp, the Nikkei business daily reported earlier on Thursday.
Honda shares closed down 10.2 percent to 2,115 yen. The benchmark Nikkei average fell 11.4 percent to 8,458.45. ($1=100.12 yen).
Source
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The comment came after Toyota Motor Corp President Katsuaki Watanabe said on Wednesday the business environment has deteriorated beyond earlier expectations and predicted the key North American car market would remain sluggish through next year.
Honda president Takeo Fukui told reporters on Thursday: "We will give an update at the announcement of fiscal half results at the end of this month, but at this point we have no plan to revise our full-year earnings estimates."
Honda is basically on track to achieve global sales volume targets and has kept sales promotion costs under control in the United States, the world's largest car market, by adjusting the levels of production and inventory, he said.
Honda expects an operating profit of 630 billion yen ($6.29 billion) for the year to March 2009, below a consensus of a 668.4 billion yen profit in a poll of 19 analysts by Reuters Estimates.
Fukui said the automaker did not see any need to change its business strategy even if the dollar falls slightly below 100 yen.
Honda has assumed the dollar will average 101 yen in the financial year, while Honda vice president Koichi Kondo told reporters on Thursday that the dollar averaged about 108 yen for the company in the April-September first half.
A Toyota company source told Reuters last week that the world's largest automaker was considering what would be a rare downward revision of its earnings outlook because of sluggish global demand and a firmer yen.
In the United States, where car demand is falling amid a deepening credit crisis, Fukui said "at least at this stage, we are not expecting a major drop in our sales" because of shifting demand in favour of fuel-efficient cars, the type of cars Honda focuses on.
Among emerging markets, Honda's car sales are growing in China despite falling demand industry-wide, while the company's motorcycle sales are on track with a plan in India, Fukui said.
On growing signs of an industry realignment, the Honda president said the global car industry is going through a tough time because of soaring fuel and raw materials costs, coupled with cooling consumer sentiment, but that Honda will likely benefit from the demand shift to smaller cars.
"U.S. carmakers, such as General Motors and Ford, reacted too slowly to shifting demand. The age of pickup trucks has ended, and we are not playing in that segment," Fukui said.
He said he would not object to U.S. government-sponsored financial assistance to these rivals, as such a move would also help those parts suppliers which Honda also uses.
Elsewhere in the industry, Ford Motor Co has asked Toyota-affiliated auto parts supplier Denso Corp to buy part of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp, the Nikkei business daily reported earlier on Thursday.
Honda shares closed down 10.2 percent to 2,115 yen. The benchmark Nikkei average fell 11.4 percent to 8,458.45. ($1=100.12 yen).
Source
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Remarks by T. Fukui – 2008 Paris Motor Show
The need to reduce CO2 emissions is a global challenge that transcends all national borders. Honda is addressing this challenge with technologies for the current, near and long-term.
Today we are introducing an all-new Jazz in Europe … with an enhanced design … even greater utility … while further reducing fuel consumption. And it achieves the number one fuel efficiency for B-segment petrol vehicles. To help us meet increasing global demand for high fuel efficiency cars, we will begin production of Jazz at our plant in the U.K. next year.
For the long term, we believe fuel cell electric vehicle technology is the ultimate environmental solution. And we have begun introducing the industry- leading Honda FCX Clarity to individual customers to advance this technology.
But to reduce CO2 emissions in the near term, Honda believes the best approach is to advance hybrid technology to mainstream customers. And the foundation of our efforts is the Honda Company Principle that has guided our business for more than 50 years. Maintaining a global viewpoint … with products of the highest quality … at a reasonable price … for worldwide customer satisfaction.
Today, we introduce a hybrid vehicle concept model … the all-new Honda Insight … that takes this principle into action. The original Insight was a 2-seat subcompact car. Introduced in 1999, it was a pioneer for petrol-electric hybrid technology in Europe and North America … as the very first commercially available hybrid car in these markets. We applied new technologies to achieve the number one fuel efficiency in the industry. These included the ultimate in aerodynamic design … an all-aluminum body and new processes for aluminum body production … and the compact IMA hybrid system.
The all-new Honda Insight will also be a pioneer … challenging to take hybrid technology into a new era of affordability. This new Insight will give more people the chance to get behind the wheel of a high quality hybrid vehicle only Honda can develop. Following the advanced aerodynamic design of FCX Clarity, Insight is a 5-seat 5-door hatchback … with room for a family.
We are developing this vehicle to achieve excellent fuel efficiency on par with Civic Hybrid … but at a significantly reduced price. The new Insight is equipped with a hybrid system that combines a lightweight and compact 1.3-liter engine with a motor that will achieve excellent fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions.
We created a newly developed platform with the control unit and battery under the cargo space. As a result, Insight achieves excellent utility together with light and comfortable driving feel to offer a “Fun to Drive” spirit.
This new Insight represents the further advance of our concept of offering a hybrid for everyone. We have further reduced the weight and size of the hybrid system. And we have improved and strengthened our production system to further reduce the cost of our hybrid system.
While we continue to view the FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle as the ultimate solution, we will position Insight as an environmentally-responsible vehicle available to everyone now. The mass-production Insight will go on sale in Europe, Japan, and North America in spring 2009 … with expected annual global sales of 200,000 units.
The new Insight marks the start of a new phase in our hybrid vehicle strategy … that will also include the Civic Hybrid, a new vehicle based on the CR-Z concept vehicle and a new Jazz hybrid. We expect combined annual sales to reach approximately 500,000 units.
As a next step … we plan to unveil the mass-production model of Insight next January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. But, now, it is my pleasure to give you this first look at the Insight Concept model. Thank you for your attention.
Source: Honda Motor Europe
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