Honda quarterly profit up on weak yen, despite some vehicle sales woes; lowers profit forecast

Honda's net profit for the July-September quarter surged nearly 18 percent but the Japanese automaker lowered its earnings forecast for the full year, pointing to difficulties in its home Japan market.

Honda Motor Co. reported Tuesday a 141.8 billion yen ($1.3 billion) profit for the fiscal second quarter. Sales edged up 4 percent to 3.015 trillion yen ($27.9 billion), helped by a weak yen.

The Tokyo-based maker of the Fit subcompact, Odyssey minivan and Asimo robot revised its profit forecast for the year ending March 2015 to 565 billion yen ($5.2 billion) from 600 billion yen, citing sales woes in Japan and China.

The sales tax hike in Japan earlier this year has crimped auto purchases. Honda also sold fewer vehicles in North America for the quarter.