Honda Motor Co. on Wednesday reported record sales and profits on a consolidated basis for the first half, mainly due to brisk vehicle sales in Japan, Europe and Asia.

Honda posted a record net profit of 241.3 billion yen during the April-September period, up 0.9 percent from the previous year. Its group sales for the first half jumped 3.5 percent to 4.16 trillion yen, a record for the fifth straight year.

Despite the negative impact of the unfavorable exchange rate, which cost the firm 72.8 billion yen in operating profit, operating profit rose 4.7 percent to 332.9 billion yen.

The automaker said increased revenue and reduced material costs offset the negative impact of the yen's appreciation against the dollar.

Increased motorcycle sales also boosted the company's sales and profits, Honda said.

In terms of car sales volume, Honda's global sales for the first half grew 8.5 percent to 1.57 million units.

Domestic sales stood at 344,000 vehicles, up 4.6 percent thanks to brisk sales of minivans such as the Elysion luxury, the Edix and the Odyssey.

Sales volume in North America declined 3.2 percent to 757,000 vehicles due to sluggish sales of the Accord sedan and the Odyssey minivan, while sales in Europe grew 14.2 percent to 129,000 units.

Honda sold 256,000 vehicles in Asia excluding Japan, up 57.1 percent, led by strong demand in China, India and Indonesia.

Daihatsu profit up 155% Daihatsu Motor Co. said Wednesday its consolidated net profit for the April-September period jumped 154.6 percent from a year earlier to 9.62 billion yen on sales of 552.81 billion yen, up 15.9 percent.

Daihatsu's per-share group net profit in the first half of the current fiscal year rose to 22.53 yen from the year-before level of 8.84 yen.