Honda sets lower sales target in shift away from expansion

Automaker to reduce production and model variations to improve efficiency

20190508N Honda 1

Honda's Ohio plant, which produces the mainstay Accord and others, will cut production from August.

KEIICHI FURUKAWA and TATSUYA OKADA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Honda has set an automobile sales target for fiscal 2019 that is lower than the previous year as the company strives to streamline operations in a reversal of a past expansion strategy that ultimately hurt profits.

The automaker announced Wednesday that it aims to sell 5.16 million four-wheeled vehicles this fiscal year, down from the 5.32 million sold in fiscal 2018. This would mark the first year-on-year sales decrease since fiscal 2011, when sales suffered from the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Japan.

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