Honda Motor Co. said Friday its net profit for the year ended March rose 70.0 percent from a year earlier to a record 1.11 trillion yen ($7.1 billion), boosted by robust sales of hybrid cars and a weak yen.

Operating profit soared 77.0 percent to 1.38 trillion yen on sales of 20.43 trillion yen, up 20.8 percent, the Japanese automaker said. Both figures are record highs.

Honda sold 4.11 million cars globally in fiscal 2023, up 11.4 percent from the previous year, thanks to a growth of 36.2 percent in North America as more people sought its gasoline-electric hybrid cars amid slowing sales of electric vehicles, the company said.

Its sales in Japan and Europe also grew due to recovering demand following the coronavirus pandemic, while in China, they dropped as competition with local brands intensified.

Honda's global motorcycle sales, meanwhile, inched up 0.3 percent to 18.82 million units as robust sales in India and Brazil offset a decline in Vietnam.

The weak yen, which helps boost Japanese exporters' overseas earnings, pushed up Honda's pretax profit by 151.1 billion yen, it said. Price hikes also contributed to its profit growth.

For the current business year, Honda projects a net profit to fall 9.7 percent to 1.0 trillion yen on sales of 20.3 trillion yen, down 0.6 percent.

The automaker plans to sell 4.12 million cars and 19.80 million motorcycles globally in fiscal 2024, up 0.3 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.

The company assumed the U.S. dollar to trade at 140 yen on average for the business year, compared with 145 yen the previous year.

==Kyodo

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