Honda Motor Co. announced on Monday that it expects domestic sales to fall short of 800,000 units in both 1998 and 1999.
Domestic sales for 1998 are expected to total about 700,000 units, down 13.5 percent from the previous year, and those for 1999 are projected at 750,000 units, up 7.1 percent.
Honda President and CEO Hiroyuki Yoshino said that he wants to recover the 800,000-unit sales level in 2000.
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association projects that domestic auto sales will increase 2.5 percent from 1998 to 6,050,000 units in 1999. But Yoshino is less optimistic, saying he expects the industry to move about 6 million units in 1999.