Honda Motor Co said it plans to significantly increase research and development spending this fiscal year by nearly a quarter to strengthen its position in hybrid and other electric vehicles. The Japanese automaker also forecast operating profit growth of 2.8% for the 2024/25 financial year.
Separately, the company announced a share buyback of up to 300 billion yen ($1.93 billion) after beating analysts’ fourth-quarter profit estimates, thanks to strong sales growth in the United States. against a slowdown in China.
A weak Japanese yen and strong sales of hybrid models also contributed to Honda’s profits. Operating profit for the three months to March 31 rose more than sixfold from a year earlier to 305.6 billion yen, well above the average forecast of 248.3 billion yen from nine analysts.
Honda, which is lagging rivals in the pure electric car segment, plans to spend 1.19 trillion yen on research and development this year, up 23% from last year. Company CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that Honda plans to produce 2 million hybrid models annually by 2030.
In addition, Mibe noted that negotiations with Nissan Motor about a possible partnership to produce components for electric vehicles are progressing well and will updates on this matter soon.
2024-05-13 00:59:00
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