MORE: Honda sales slip in February, marks building 25M cars in US
Honda’s total sales for the year are down about 2 percent compared to the first nine months of 2017.
“We enter the final quarter of the year in a very strong position across our passenger car and light-truck lineups, putting us in striking distance of a fourth consecutive year of record sales for the Honda and Acura brands combined,” said Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president of the American Honda Automobile Division in a news release.
The News-Sun previously reported Honda hit an all-time sales record in 2017. The company sold more than 1.64 million Honda and Acura vehicles last year, a 0.2-percent improvement over 2016.
RELATED: Honda has a huge impact on Clark and Champaign counties.
About 1,400 workers from Clark and Champaign counties work for the automaker, and it employs about approximately 14,500 Ohioans overall.
Highlights for the company included the Honda Pilot, which saw sales spike 50 percent compared to last year on sales of 15,464 units. The Acura RDX also set its fourth monthly sales record since it launched in June. That vehicle saw sales jump 54 percent on sales of 5,699 units.
READ MORE: Honda joins business coalition
Sales of the Accord sedan, which is assembled in Marysville, were down almost 15 percent for September and are down 14 percent year-to-date, according to information from the company.
The company also assembled the CR-V sport utility vehicle at facilities in East Liberty and Marysville. Honda sold nearly 30,600 units in September, down about one percent compared to September 2017. CR-V sales were also down just one percent for the year compared to 2017.
Information from Edmunds, a car shopping and information website, showed higher interest rates also put pressure on new vehicle sales in September.
A news release from Edmunds showed the annual percentage rate on new financed vehicles averaged 5.8 percent last month, compared to 4.8 percent in September 2017 and 4.1 percent five years ago.
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