Honda has released its global production results for the calendar year ending 2022, with the company recording its fourth consecutive drop in year-on-year production numbers.
All up, between January and December, 2022, Honda produced 3,870,161 vehicles for global markets, which was 6.4 per cent less than the 4,136,018 vehicles it produced in 2021.
In spite of Honda recording its first increase in local Japanese production in four years, sliding production figures at factories around the globe leave the company short of positive growth figures.
Production numbers at Honda’s Chinese factories experienced the sharpest drop, which is more than likely down to China’s aggressive zero-COVID policies that caused a number of manufacturers to temporarily suspend production.
Honda’s factories in China produced 10 per cent less vehicles than the previous year, down to 1.4 million units, followed by North America which was 7.8 per cent less than the previous year, at 1.2 million units.
Specifically for the Japanese market, Honda production was up 4.6 per cent, but new vehicle registrations (sales) dropped for the sixth consecutive year. It reported 567,969 new registrations, which is down 2.0 per cent on the previous year.
One small silver lining for Honda was that, in spite of a lackluster quarter leading up to Christmas, the company recorded its first year-on-year increase of exports from Japan, which stood 15 per cent higher than the previous year, at 76,704 vehicles.
In Australia Honda shifted just 14,215 vehicles, which was down 19.1 per cent on 2021 efforts. The local arm’s most popular model was the CR-V (8123, up 18.2 per cent), followed by the HR-V (4717, down 22.3 per cent), and then the Civic (865, down 70.7 per cent).
