Shanghai (ZXZC)- Japanese automaker Honda said the number of deliveries in China rose 9.4% year on year in July to 115,950 units, the best-ever figure in terms of July sales for the world's largest auto market.

Both two joint ventures in China achieved their highest-ever July deliveries as well. GAC Honda saw monthly deliveries edge up 1.7% from the previous year to 55,560 units, while Dongfeng Honda handed over 60,390 units with a double-digit growth of 17.6%.

For the first seven months of the year, Honda's China deliveries totaled 861,359 units, jumping 20.5% over the year-ago period. Of that, GAC Honda posted a 11.2% year-on-year increase with 436,165 vehicles handed over, while Dongfeng Honda, delivering 425,194 cars, boasted a remarkable growth of 31.7%.

（Photo source: http://www.honda.com.cn/)

Four models, including the Civic, the CR-V, the Accord and the Crider, got respective deliveries in July exceeding 10,000 units. Particularly, monthly deliveries of the Civic surpassed 20,000 units. Hybrid versions of the Accord, the Odyssey, the CR-V and the Inspire, with 9,446 units delivered in total, presented the popularity of hybrid powertrain technologies.

Honda reported a 16% drop in first-fiscal-quarter operating profit on August 2, as a stronger yen weighed on overseas earnings and U.S. vehicle sales dropped.

The automaker gained operating income of 252.4 billion yen ($2.36 billion) for the Apr.-Jun. period of 2019, compared with 299.3 billion yen a year ago.

It lowered its forecast for global sales from April 2019 to March 2020 to 5.11 million vehicles, from its former projection of 5.16 million and a record 5.323 million sold a year ago.

（Photo source: http://www.honda.com.cn/)

However, sales in China for the first half of the year still presented a 22.4% year-on-year growth with 745,409 vehicles delivered despite its global sales target reduction.