Honda Motor Co. announced on Friday that it would spend more money on research and development this year to improve its hybrid and electric vehicles. They want to make better cars and compete with other companies. They also said they expect to make more profit in the financial year 2024/25.
Honda is the second-largest carmaker in Japan. They said they would buy back some of their shares, which means they will buy their own stocks. This is worth up to 300 billion yen, which is about $1.93 billion. Honda made more profit in the last three months of the year because they sold more cars in the United States. But they sold fewer cars in China.
Honda thinks they will make more money in the next year. They predict they will make 1.42 trillion yen in operating profit. That’s more than what experts thought they would make.
Honda wants to focus on making hybrid cars. These cars have both a gas engine and an electric motor. They plan to spend more money on research and development this year. The CEO of Honda, Toshihiro Mibe, said they want to make 2 million hybrid cars every year by 2030.
In the last three months, Honda made more than six times the profit they made a year ago. They made 305.6 billion yen. This is much more than what experts thought they would make.
Honda is talking with another car company, Nissan, about working together on electric cars. They hope to have more news about this soon.
Honda sold more cars in the United States but fewer in China. In China, there are many other car companies, so Honda has to work hard to sell their cars there. They plan to make electric cars in Canada and sell six electric car models in China by 2027.
