A top U.S. executive at Honda Motor Co. said competitors are doing "stupid things" to boost auto sales, including making seven-year-long car loans that harm buyers.

Automakers are increasingly selling vehicles with 84-month loans that reduce monthly payments while making it tougher to repay them faster than cars lose value, John Mendel, Honda's U.S. sales chief, said in an interview. The Tokyo-based company will avoid longer-term loans even as Nissan Motor Co. tries to supplant it as the fifth-biggest automaker in the U.S., he said.

"You're ringing the bell on a new car sale, but that customer is saddled — they're stretched so thin," Mendel said at the North American International Auto Show last week. Extended-term loans are "stupid not just for us, but for the industry."