In August 2025, Honda Motor stated that fewer automobiles would be produced in Japan and their number would be reduced significantly to 44,586 units (88.4% of the same period in the previous year). It is the initial decline on a year-on-year basis of the Japanese car manufacturer in three months. Its world production also kept declining as 267,005 units were made around the globe during the year (compared to 324,008 units in 1992), and the 13th consecutive negative year-on-year growth was registered in the overseas plants of Honda.
Japanese manufacturing registered its first quarterly loss
Honda Motor forecasts that automobile output in the month of August 2025 will be reduced with a decline of 44,586 units in Japan, with the year-on-year (YOY) decrease of 88.4 percent. The first breakdown of the YoY in three months. Honda had improved its production in Japan by 98.5 percent to 438,531 units in January to August 2025, compared to the increase of the same units in January 2024.
Outside Japan, production was also down to 222,419 units in August 2025, or 86.7 per cent of the 256,602 units produced in the same month in the previous year. It recorded its 13 consecutive months of YoY declines. The foreign (not domestic consumption) production was the predominant one in the period of nine months up to the end of January: 1.84 million, or 90.2 of the production in the period was in the same period the previous year.
International production declines in 13th consecutive month
Honda recorded production of 267,005 (Down a percent of 87 percent) globally, as the maker registered thirteen months of consecutive YoY declines. The actual production in the world during the period of January to August 2025 was 2.28 million units, and this was 91.7 percent of the total production in the period of January to August 2024.
Fluctuating performance trends among regions
In August 2025, North America manufactured 136,559 units of the medical administration robots, which represented 94.9 percent of the output in August 2024. The US recorded 88,056 of these units, which translates to a YoY decline to 93.9. Asia had a production of 76,887, which is a decline of 74.3 per cent. year-on-year, 50,011 units, most of which originated in China (improved 80.5 year-on-year).
Due to this growth in exports, the local market expanded at a slower pace, and according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), 41,220 vehicles were sold by Honda in Japan in August, which is 89.9 percent of the sales of 45,868 units made in August a year before. Conversely, this was the opposite in Japan, where the levels of exports increased tremendously. Shipments of Honda to 18 trading partners in August 2025 are 7,307 units, which is 126.9 percent higher than 5,756 units in 2024. This is the fifth year of the growth of exports.
Firm export growth boosted by North American demand
North America had a growth of 2037 units, which is a significant improvement over the growth of 270.2 units over the same year, whereas the US imported 1727 units only, though this growth was also 236.6. Export to Asia stood at a slightly lower position of 277 units, and Europe took a position of almost unchanged at 2,551 units. The export volume of other regions increased to 2442 units by 115.5% on a year-on-year basis.
The units that have been exported by Japan during the period between January and August 2025 were 68,609 units, and this amount represents 124.0 percent of the amount of units that were exported during the same segment in the year 2024, at 55,337 units. The export growth was led by North America, which received 16,754 units YTD, a phenomenal improvement of 425.6 percent on 3937 units in 2024.
The performance of Honda in August 2025 is a bigger challenge than is experienced in the automobile industry because the total production is falling in key markets despite the fact that the export requirements are very high. The poor tendency of the domestic production is weak; however, the outstanding export development refers to the strategic change of direction as compared with the domestic market.