Honda Reports all-Time Record Sales

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has announced record December and full-year results for Honda and its Acura Division have propelled American Honda to an all-time record year for 2004 with total sales climbing 3.0% to 1,394,398 passenger cars and light trucks. Industry analysts said this marks the 11th consecutive year of sales increases for Honda. American Honda December sales of 137,381 cars soared 30.1% over one year ago, establishing a new record for the month, and SUVs and minivan sales shot to a new single-month record of 57,762.

"It was one heck of a competitive year for the industry as a whole, but we are feeling pretty good about the outcome for Honda and Acura," stated Dick Colliver, executive VP of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "The competition is not about to let up, but with Acura on a roll and great new products like the Honda Ridgeline truck and an all-new Honda Civic coming down the pipe, we think 2005 will be another strong year for us."

Honda reported new all-time records for December and for the entire 2004 year on the strength of record December results for Honda Accord, Civic, CR-V, Pilot and the all-new Odyssey minivan. With Civic Hybrid sales up 17.5% to 25,571 for 2004 and the addition of the all-new Honda Accord Hybrid late in 2004, sales of Honda hybrid vehicles climbed 18.6% to a new record of 27,215 units for 2004. December sales of Honda's three hybrid models soared 97.2% to 3,167 units, as total Honda hybrid sales hit 74,608 since the introduction of the Honda Insight in December 1999.

Honda FCX & City of Los Angeles Celebrate Second Year Anniversary

AMERICAN HONDA MOTORS PRESS RELEASE
American Honda has announced the second anniversary of its relationship with the city of Los Angeles in California. The city is the first customer for the hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle, the Honda FCX, the world's most advanced fuel cell vehicle. Honda delivered the first of its five FCX fuel cell vehicles to Mayor Jim Hahn back in December of 2002. In the intervening years, the city has operated five hydrogen-powered fuel cell Honda cars regularly, accumulating more than 25,000 miles as part of their alternative fuel fleet.

"Los Angeles is pleased to partner with Honda to lease these innovative fuel cell vehicles, which utilize emerging technology to significantly reduce energy use, clean our air and promote renewable energy sources," stated city of Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn. "Fuel cells have the potential to revolutionize the transportation and energy industries, and we are proud that Los Angeles will play a major role in helping to develop the next generation of clean, energy efficient vehicles."

"I would like to commend the Mayor and the city of Los Angeles for their vision and for taking this bold step toward a more sustainable energy future, and also thank them for becoming a customer of Honda fuel cell technology with the Honda FCX," stated Gunnar Lindstrom, senior manager of American Honda Alternative Fuels.

Honda currently has twelve fuel cell vehicles with customers including the State of New York, the city of San Francisco, California's South Coast Air Quality Management District, the city of Chula Vista and the city of Los Angeles.

Honda Selected as Greenest Automaker for the Third Time By Union of Concerned Scientists

AMERICAN HONDA MOTORS PRESS RELEASE
American Honda Motor Co. was chosen by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) as the 2004 Greenest Automaker in the organization's biennial ranking of car and truck manufacturers' environmental performance. It is the third consecutive honor for Honda in the UCS study. Compared with the UCS's 2002 findings, Honda has increased its lead over other automakers in reducing both greenhouse gas and tailpipe emissions across the full range of its car, truck and minivan lineup.

According to the UCS, Honda extended its lead by building vehicles that produce less than half the smog-forming pollutants of the industry average and 18% less heat-trapping emissions. "Honda is in a class of its own when it comes to producing clean cars and trucks," stated David Friedman, Research Director of UCS's Clean Vehicles Program and lead author of the report. A Honda spokesman responded that "This award reflects our commitment to apply the latest technologies for reduced emissions and improved fuel efficiency across our complete product line. It's a commitment that goes to our core objective of being a company that society wants to exist."

Honda has a long history of environmental leadership including the first hybrid introduced in the U.S., the Honda Insight hybrid, and the first vehicles to meet stricter emissions standards, including the first Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV), the 1996 Honda Civic, Ultra-Low Emissions vehicle (ULEV), the 1998 Honda Accord and Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV), the 2000 Honda Accord.

60% of Honda's 2004 model cars, minivans and light trucks meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standard, well in advance of regulatory requirements. On fuel efficiency, Honda vehicles -including two Honda hybrid models (Insight and Civic Hybrid) - captured four of the top five spots in the EPA's 2004 fuel economy rankings. With the introduction of the Accord Hybrid at Honda dealerships nationwide, Honda has become the only carmaker to provide U.S. customers three distinct hybrid models and the first company to offer a V6 engine hybrid.

Honda also leads in the development of alternative fuel technologies including hydrogen fuel cells. The company's FCX fuel cell vehicle is the only Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) to earn certification from the EPA and CARB for regular commercial use. There are currently 12 of these zero emissions cars in operation with five different customers in California and New York. The State of New York took delivery of the first of two 2005 Honda FCX fuel cell cars that it will lease from Honda and include in its daily fleet use in Albany. The 2005 FCX is unique because it is powered by Honda's own fuel cell stack (Honda FC Stack) and is the first FCV that has the ability to start and operate in below freezing temperatures, along with improvements gains in range, fuel efficiency and performance over earlier models.

Additionally, Honda has taken a leadership role in developing the hydrogen refueling infrastructure required to support fuel cell vehicles. Honda is operating a unique experimental solar powered hydrogen fuel station at Honda R&D American in Torrance, CA. In the U.S. Northeast Honda will begin testing the second generation of its experimental Home Energy Station (HES II) developed in conjunction with partner, Plug Power, Inc. HES II is a home refueling unit that provides hydrogen from natural gas for vehicle refueling, as well as heat for domestic hot water use and electricity for the home.

Headquartered in Torrance, California, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. was founded in 1959 as the U.S. sales & marketing subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda now produces cars, minivans, SUV's and trucks, motorcycles, personal watercraft, all-terrain vehicles, lawn mowers and engines at its nine major U.S. manufacturing operations, using domestic and globally sourced parts. Honda also maintains three major R&D centers in Ohio, Los Angeles and North Carolina that design and develop many of the products sold in America. Currently, Honda employs more than 25,000 associates in the U.S.