-=Honda Motor Co.(HMC) reported Q2 earnings on Tue 31 July 2018 (b/o)

• Honda profits jump on strong car and motorcycle sales

TOKYO (AP) -- Honda Motor Co. says its profits jumped 17.8 percent in the latest quarter, driven by strong auto sales in North America and motorcycle sales in Asia.

The Japanese automaker reported profits Tuesday of 244.3 billion ($2.2 billion) yen in the April-June quarter, up from 207.3 billion yen last year. Sales rose 8.4 percent to 4.0 trillion yen.

Honda sold 518,000 vehicles in North America, an increase of 7.7 percent. Growth in Indonesia, India and Vietnam drove up total motorcycle sales 13.9 percent to 5.35 million units.

Profits rose despite the negative impact of flooding that has forced suspension of production at a factory in Mexico.