Honda targets higher sales in emerging markets

Honda Motor Co expects to raise its annual global automobile sales by 80 percent over the next decade and plans to aggressively sell low-priced automobiles in emerging markets , the Nikkei business daily reported.

The company, which focuses on Japan, the United States and Europe, has a 3-5 percent share in the emerging countries automobile markets and it will spearhead the new initiative with the launch a new model for about 900,000 yen ($10,760) in India next year, the business daily said.

Honda plans to increase its automobile sales to 6.6 million in 2020 from 3.6 million units this year, Nikkei said.

The company will face tough competition due to the razor-thin margin for such vehicles and intends to secure profits through economies of scale, Nikkei said.

Honda hopes to apply motorcycle segment strategy to its automobile segment. The operating profit margins in motorcycle segment is higher despite a decline in per-vehicle margin due to expansion in emerging markets, the daily reported.

The motorcycle segment has a global sales estimate of 17.4 million units for 2010, more than triple the figure from 10 years ago, Nikkei said.