Car sales rose 6 per cent to 3.76 million units, driven by huge demand and increases in emerging markets such as China, South America and Eastern Europe.

Additionally, five of Honda's six global sales regions achieved record sales results.

China rose 31 per cent to 428,000 units, South America 30 per cent to 117,000, Europe/Middle East/Africa by 23 per cent to 480,000, Asia/Oceania was up 9 per cent to 343,000 and North America, Honda's largest market, increased 3 per cent to 1,776,000.

The Japanese manufacturer's car production increased 8 per cent compared with 2006 levels to 3,911,000 units.