Japanese car firm Honda has said its net profit more than doubled to $1.7 billion for the three months to September, while it also upgraded its full-year profit forecast.
Honda, which is vying with Nissan to be the nation's number two car maker, said its net profit came to 135.9 billion yen ($1.7 billion) for its second financial quarter.
The company said the brisk performance was mainly due to Japanese government incentives for energy efficient cars and its own cost-cutting efforts, which offset the negative impact of a strong yen.
The yen has been trading at 15-year-highs, hammering Japanese exporters by making their products less competitive abroad while also reducing their foreign earnings when they are converted back into yen.
But, despite the currency woes abroad, Honda's sales rose 9.5%. The car maker revised upward its net profit forecast for the financial year to March 2011 to 500 billion yen from the 455 billion yen projected earlier.
Honda's global vehicle sales were up 7.2% from a year earlier, thanks to increased demand in the large emerging markets of India and China, as well as moderate recoveries in Japan and North America. Motorcycle sales jumped 13.4% from a year earlier, due to robust sales in Asia and South America, although sales in North America remained in a slump.
