Honda's quarterly profit ballooned to a record $3.2 billion while Mazda reduced its losses, rounding out a tale of recovery among Japanese automakers. Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have also reported stronger results but the prospect of a continued recovery for the Japanese automakers remains shaky. The strength of the global economic recovery is in doubt and the yen's strength - which reduces the value of profits brought back from overseas - has been unrelenting. Meanwhile, government incentives that boosted sales in past months are set to expire. Also casting a shadow are strikes in China at Honda ventures and suppliers as workers demand better wages, sometimes halting production. The world's No. 1 carmaker Toyota Motor Corp. has also been plagued by similar worker unrest in China. It reports April-to-June earnings on Wednesday. Despite the uncertainties, Honda Motor Co. raised its full year earnings forecast Friday as sales grew in North America, Japan and the rest of Asia. April-to-June profit at the maker of the Insight hybrid, Fit subcompact and Odyssey minivan increased 36-fold to 272.4 billion yen ($3.2 billion) from 7.5 billion yen a year earlier when Japanese automakers were slammed by the financial crisis and global market slump. Quarterly revenue jumped 17.9 percent to 2.361 trillion yen ($27.5 billion) for the fifth straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Honda was one of the few Japanese automakers that avoided losses during the global recession, partly because it focuses on smaller models that don't deliver hefty profit margins but whose sales held up. Mazda Motor Corp. said Friday it reduced its losses for the April-June quarter to 2.1 billion yen ($24 million) from 21.5 billion yen ($250 million) a year earlier on growth in North America, China and Thailand. Quarterly sales jumped 35 percent to 578 billion yen ($6.7 billion). Honda and other automakers stand a chance to gain from Toyota's recent massive recalls - especially in North America, where its image has been most tarnished. Since October, Toyota has recalled about 10 million vehicles worldwide for faulty floor mats, defective gas pedals, software glitches and steering problems. It faces hundreds of lawsuits in the US tied to accidents involving defective automobiles.
