Profit at Honda Motor Co. jumped 29.6 percent during the quarter through June on booming sales of its fuel-efficient models in North America and Asia.
Net profit at Honda grew to 143.4 billion yen (€974 m) in the fiscal first quarter, up from 110.6 billion yen the same period the previous year, Japan's No. 3 automaker said Wednesday.
Quarterly sales climbed 14.8 percent to 2.6 trillion yen (€17.7 billion) from 2.26 trillion yen a year earlier.
Honda is getting a robust lift from the popularity of its vehicles around the world, especially the Civic sedan and Fit compact in the US, where soaring oil prices are making smaller cars more attractive.
The car manufacturer chalked up its sixth straight record for first quarter earnings and sales.
Honda kept its profit outlook for the full fiscal year ending March 2007 at 550 billion yen (€3.7 billion) but revised its sales forecast upward to 10.7 trillion yen (€72.7 billion) from the forecast in April for 10.6 trillion yen (€72.03 billion).
Honda said it sold 896,000 vehicles worldwide in the April-June quarter, largely on growth in North America and Asia, up 6.7 percent from 840,000 in fiscal 2005.
In North America, sales rose nearly 9 percent to 456,000 vehicles for the quarter, while in Asia outside Japan, they grew a dramatic 15 percent to 153,000 vehicles.
Although Honda's domestic vehicle sales dipped 6.6 percent to 156,000 vehicles, overall overseas sales surged 10 percent to 740,000 vehicles in the latest quarter.
A weaker yen also was a boon for earnings. A decline in research costs also helped results, offsetting the soaring costs of raw materials, Honda said in a statement.
The success of Honda, which makes cars that deliver solid mileage, contrasts with the troubles at U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.