Honda CEO doesn't see U.S. going into recession

TOKYO (Reuters) - The head of Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday he did not expect the U.S. market as a whole to enter a recession, noting record-high sales for the Japanese automaker's cars in the East Coast and Midwest regions.

"It's true that our sales are falling in Florida and California, but we're recording our best-ever sales in the East Coast and Midwest," Chief Executive Officer Takeo Fukui told a news conference.

"There's been no sign at all that these markets will shrink. On the whole, I don't believe we're going to see a recession."

Honda, Japan's second-biggest automaker, wants to increase its U.S. sales by 2.5 percent to 1.59 million vehicles this year even as industry-wide sales of cars and light trucks look set to decline for a third consecutive year. Honda expects the overall U.S. market to fall to the mid-15 million vehicle range this year, in line with many estimates, Fukui said.

"Generally speaking, demand for cars in the United States is firmly supported, and the market still presents a good business opportunity."

Honda's U.S. sales in January fell 2.3 percent against a worse-than-expected industry-wide decline of 4.4 percent.

Fukui said consumer preferences continued to shift towards smaller, fuel-saving vehicles such as its car-based CR-V model, the best-selling SUV in the United States last year.

"In light of that, Honda will carry on with its strategy -- not just in North America -- of offering fuel-efficient cars around the world. We're still working on expanding production capacity," he said.

Still, Fukui said there were limits. Asked if Honda would produce a rival model to Indian automaker Tata Motors Ltd's tiny $2,500 Nano unveiled last month, he said: "We have no intention of building a car at that kind of price.

"We know Indian consumers well through our long business in the motorcycle segment, and I can't imagine that people will buy a car like that just because it's cheap."

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Editing by Michael Watson)