American Honda Motor Co. said Monday that sales of Honda motorcycles in the United States rose 34.5 percent to 174,376 units last year, eclipsing Harley Davidson Inc. as the top motorcycle maker with a 26.5 percent share.
The pace of growth was faster than the 27.3 percent rise in overall U.S. motorcycle sales, Honda said.
The company attributed the gains to the brisk U.S. economy in the first half of last year and strong demand for small off-road motorcycles.
Honda's U.S. sales are keeping parent company Honda Motor Co. on track to attain its worldwide sales goal of 7 million motorcycles in fiscal 2003. In 2000, Honda posted sales of around 5.16 million motorcycles, American Honda said.