Honda Motor Co. Wednesday slashed its net profit outlook for the fiscal year ending in March 2009 by 62%. The company also killed its NSX replacement.
The automaker lowered its fiscal year net income outlook to ¥185 billion ($2.08 billion, £1.36 billion) from its earlier estimate of ¥485 billion in October. Operating profit may total ¥180 billion, compared with a previous estimate of ¥550 billion.
The company will cut global production by 314,000 vehicles for the current fiscal year. It also will cut at least 1,210 jobs in Japan. Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, will shed 3,000 workers by March 31. Nissan Motor Co. will eliminate 2,000 positions.
Honda has also canceled plans for the Acura NSX supercar program, company President Takeo Fukui said on Wednesday.
The car was expected to have a front-mounted V10 engine that made at least 500 hp. It would have been the successor to the first-generation NSX, which had a mid-mounted V6. That NSX went out of production in late 2005 after 14 years.
The new NSX was expected to debut as a 2010 model.