Japan automakers stay optimistic about US sales in 2013
Japanese automakers are optimistic about even better sales in the United States this year, helped by a weakening yen and product launch cycles, after posting robust sales last year as they left behind the effects of natural disasters in 2011.
Toyota Motor Corp, which on Monday became certain to regain the world's top sales spot for the first time since 2010, sees for this year the strongest U.S. sales since 2008, an executive told Reuters on Monday.
The third-biggest automaker in the United States after GM and Ford is expecting to sell about 2.2 million vehicles this year, up about 6 percent from a year ago, Jim Lentz, the President and Chief Executive of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. said at the Detroit auto show.
Honda Motor Co, the No.5 automaker in the United States, is also optimistic about U.S. sales for 2013, aiming to break its record sales of 1.55 million vehicles it had sold back in 2007, Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura said.
With strong sales of its key models including the redesigned Accord sedan released in the United States in September, Honda sees a chance to expand in the U.S. and neighboring markets, said Chief Executive Takanobu Ito.
"Now is a very good time for us to enhance our presence in North America," Ito told reporters.
Last year, Japanese firms sold more than 5.3 million vehicles combined in the United States in 2012, up 20 percent from a year ago when it was struggling to recover from natural disasters that disrupted the supply chain.
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