Honda Is Emerging From the Inventory Crisis Better Than Most Brands

Though inventory remains tight, deliveries prove that Honda is ahead of the curve when it comes to resolving the new-car inventory crisis.

Torque News recently asked 11 automakers if they would go on the record regarding their deliveries and inventory management. Only two offered to do so. Honda pointed to a strong launch of new products and offered encouraging words regarding dealer inventory. Now we know that Honda was sincere.

Related Story: Here’s Where America's New Car Inventory Stands Entering November 2022

While many automakers no longer offer monthly delivery data, Honda continues to do so. This information is valuable to those of us in the business of watching new vehicle trends, and consumers benefit by having more facts when they shop. This month’s Honda American market deliveries were the best since April of 2022.

American Honda's October sales top 81,000 units. That is the best monthly performance since April. Acura sales topped 9,000 units for the best month since April, and the brand’s passenger cars topped 3,500 units for the first time in 2022. This is a good trend, particularly since October is not a quarter-end month. Many brands, Tesla, in particular, save up a chunk of their available vehicles for delivery just before quarter end. Honda does not play that game.

Honda delivered 20,517 CR-Vs in October, nearly double the number of Foresters Subaru could deliver. We use Subaru as an example because Forester was one of the popular US models most impacted by the shortage crisis.

Honda delivered 7,520 new HR-Vs. That is a staggering number for its segment, given the transition from the old to the new HR-V being underway. Honda delivered more HR-Vs than Mazda did CX-30s or Hyundai did Konas.

One of the biggest surprises was that Honda delivered almost 4,000 Ridgeline pickups in October. Honda delivered more Ridgelines in its latest month of reporting than Ford did Mavericks, and Hyundai did its Santa Cruz.

Stay tuned to Torque News for more developments on the inventory crisis. We hope more automakers join Honda in making progress soon.

Image of 2023 Ridgeline pickup truck courtesy of Honda.

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin

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