American Honda Sales In US Skyrocket 47.6 Percent In May

U.S. car sales soared 47.6 percent for the American Honda unit of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) in May, as the Japanese automaker consummated its recovery from last year's triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdowns), with strong sales of its flagship Civic and Accord cars.

American Honda sold 133,997 vehicles in May, a 47.6 increase over the year before (36.3 percent on a selling-day adjusted basis). Its Honda brand sold 119,411 vehicles, up 46 percent, while the Acura brand sold 14,586 vehicles, up 62.1 percent.

With our best May sales performance since before the financial crisis, it's obvious Honda's return to strength is in full swing, and our May sales are impressive irrespective of last year's production supply problems, said John Mendel, American Honda's executive vice president of sales.

The Civic and Accord models led the Honda brand with sales increasing 82.6 percent and 74.7 percent, respectively. Sales of the perennially popular Honda CR-V also soared by 54.4 percent.

For the Acura brand, the RDX model experienced explosive growth of 216.8 percent for its best month ever, with 3,301 units sold. Sales of Acura crossover sport utility vehicles rose 64.7 percent.

Honda shares fell $1.07 to $30.72 Friday.