AUTOS

Honda profits rise on strong car and motorcycle sales

The Associated Press Published Tuesday, July 31, 2018 2:57AM EDT

A man walks past a Honda on display at Honda Motor Co. headquarters in Tokyo on April 25, 2014. (AP / Koji Sasahara)

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TOKYO - Honda Motor Co. says its profits jumped 17.8 per cent in the latest quarter, driven by strong auto sales in North America and motorcycle sales in Asia.

The Japanese automaker reported profits Tuesday of 244.3 billion ($2.2 billion) yen in the April-June quarter, up from 207.3 billion yen last year. Sales rose 8.4 per cent to 4.0 trillion yen.

Honda sold 518,000 vehicles in North America, an increase of 7.7 per cent. Growth in Indonesia, India and Vietnam drove up total motorcycle sales 13.9 per cent to 5.35 million units.

Profits rose despite the negative impact of flooding that has forced suspension of production at a factory in Mexico.