Honda Motor Europe president Minorou Harada said today that he expects European operations to break even by March 2004, according to Dow Jones.


Harada told a business briefing in London that to return to profitability the euro needs to gain 15% against sterling, Dow Jones said, adding that Harada’s break-even forecasts were based on an exchange rate of 105 yen to the euro.


Citing Harada, Dow Jones said that Honda Europe posted an operating loss of EUR35.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 2002, an improvement on the EUR65.5 million loss of the previous year due to improved productivity at the company’s Swindon plant and increased sales.