Honda Motor Co. grew its sales in 2019, making it one of a handful of automakers that can make that claim.
Industry observers had been anticipating an overall sales decline in 2019. Final figures haven’t yet been released because Ford Motor Co. has not yet reported their fourth quarter and year-end results, but even without Ford figures, sales were down 2.3%, according to figures compiled by trade publication Automotive News.
General Motors Co., Fiat Chrysler, Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. all reported annual sales declines.
Honda on Friday reported a 0.2% increase to 1.608 million vehicles sold. Hyundai Motor Co. was the only other of the major manufacturers to report a gain for 2019.
“In a highly competitive market, American Honda posted increased sales in 2019, including new records for both light trucks and electrified vehicles,” Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president of the American Honda automobile division, said in a release.
“Honda also bucked industry trends by achieving a second straight year as the retail No. 1 passenger car brand in America, so we head into 2020 with strong momentum.”
By retail, Honda means it doesn’t do fleet sales so all of its transactions are dealership to individual customer and aren’t padded with sales to rental car companies or other bulk vehicle users. Sales of crossovers, sport-utility vehicles and other light trucks were up 2.9% for the year to a record 901,707 units. Car sales dropped 3.1% to 706,463.
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