TOKYO (AP) — Honda’s profit for the fiscal first quarter more than doubled from a year ago, as the Japanese automaker continues to tackle a turnaround from the first full year loss in its history.
Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday its April-June profit totaled 456.9 billion yen ($2.9 billion), up from 196.6 billion yen for the same period a year ago.
Quarterly sales rose 13.5% to 6.06 trillion yen ($38 billion), as vehicles sold well in the U.S. and India, according to the maker of the Accord sedan, Fit subcompact and Super Cub motorcycle.
Honda previously recorded a 423.9 billion yen ($2.7 billion) loss for the fiscal year ended in March, acknowledging heavy costs for its electric-vehicle plans, which didn’t measure up to the original ambitions, partly because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies.
Analysts say many consumers weren’t ready to go electric. Honda has abandoned many of its plans for EV models.
The Trump administration has pulled back on incentive programs for EVs and withheld money to states wanting to add more EV charging stations, even as gas prices have soared over the war in Iran. Trump’s tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, lowered to 15% from the initial 25%, also worked to dent Honda’s profitability.
For the latest quarter, Honda’s motorcycle operations were highly lucrative with sales going strong in Brazil and India. Car sales grew in Japan and the U.S., while struggling in China.
Chief Financial Officer Masao Kawaguchi said Honda was working to offer the kinds of models that appeal to Chinese buyers, which are different from those in other markets.
“For that, we must fully utilize our resources in that market,” he told reporters.
That may still take another year or two, he added.
Kawaguchi said Honda’s overall first quarter results were very healthy, thanks partly to a favorable exchange rate.
Although the recent U.S.-Japan joint intervention has boosted the yen’s value somewhat, the U.S. dollar traded higher during the fiscal first quarter, compared with the previous year.
A cheap yen is a boon for Japanese exporters like Honda because it raises the value of its overseas earnings when translated into yen.
Honda is expecting a return to profit for this fiscal year and raised its profit forecast to 400 billion yen ($2.5 billion) from an earlier 260 billion yen ($1.6 billion).
All the Japanese automakers have been impacted by last week’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto in southwestern Japan. Some production lines were temporarily halted and supply chains disrupted.
Like other Japanese companies, Honda is going on a summer break later this month. Officials said they’re hoping things will have returned to normal by the time they’re back at work, and the exact impact of the quake on vehicle production is still unclear.
Honda shares jumped 3.9% in Tokyo trading after the financial results were released.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
Visitors examine a Honda Super-One EV during the Indonesia International Auto Show organized by the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (GAIKINDO) in Tangerang, Indonesia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
The main Kremlin party retained its majority in Russia’s parliament, election officials said Monday, after a carefully orchestrated balloting that excluded most opposition candidates and helped the government maintain its tight grip on power.
Results from over 95% of the polling stations gave the Kremlin’s United Russia party just under 58% of the vote for the 225 seats apportioned by parties, according to the Central Election Commission. Another 225 lawmakers were chosen in single-ballot races, and the results showed United Russia candidates leading in 208 of those races.
Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova said the preliminary results indicated that United Russia would get 355 seats out of 450, a record high for the party, if confirmed.
It was the first parliamentary election since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the first to include residents of four regions of that country that were seized and illegally annexed by Moscow later that year. Voting also was held in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv denounced the voting in those regions as illegal.
The Kremlin tightened its crackdown on opposition ahead of the election, including barring Russia’s only liberal, anti-war party from the ballot and allowing it to compete only in single-ballot races.
Along with United Russia, several other parties that almost always vote for Kremlin initiatives also won seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. A handful of seats will go to several candidates who ran without a party affiliation in single-ballot races, according to preliminary results.
The Kremlin has sought the parliamentary election to showcase popular support for the war, and strove to avoid political risks by stamping out any dissent.
A massive state media campaign and tight control over the election in the absence of genuine opposition left little doubt that Kremlin will keep tight control of Russian politics as economic costs rise and Ukrainian drone attacks increase deep inside the country.
Voters cast two separate ballots over three days, from Friday to Sunday, filling half of the Duma’s 450 seats by selecting political parties listed on the ballot. The rest were contested in single-seat constituencies, with voters choosing individual candidates.
Electronic balloting was available in many regions and encouraged by authorities. Critics said it made it easier for the government to control the outcome of the vote.
Pamfilova said turnout was just over 59% — the highest in a parliamentary election in over a decade. The final results will be announced Friday. she said.
The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that dared to publicly criticize the war, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia’s Supreme Court, and only has a few dozen candidates in the single-constituency races. Additionally, some anti-war politicians were imprisoned or forced to flee abroad ahead of the campaign.
Yabloko and the Communist Party, which has criticized some aspects of government policy but carefully avoided any criticism of Putin, said many of their observers were turned away from polling stations.
Russia didn’t invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the Russian Foreign Ministry accusing the body of “double standards” for its criticism of Russia. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons said that the decision was a breach of Russia’s commitments as a member state of the organization.
At one polling station in the Russian-held part of the Donetsk region, voters dropped their ballots in a box as an armed Russian soldier stood nearby and watched.
Vladimir Yakushev, a secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party, speaks during a news conference following parliamentary elections, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Vladimir Yakushev, a secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party, speaks during a news conference following parliamentary elections, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A voter fills-in a ballot during Russia's parliamentary election in Donetsk, in the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo)
