The latest Honda vehicles in a Tokyo showroom, April 28, 2010. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

Dow Jones Newswires | Honda Motor Co. has boosted incentives in
the U.S. to spur sales after an uneven start in the first quarter.

The automaker, which has been more successful than many rivals at
holding down incentives, has spent an average of $1,903 per vehicle in
cash rebates, subsidized leases and other deals, up 57 percent since
January, according to an analysis by research group Edmunds.com.

The Tokyo-based automaker announced a wide range of car-buying offers in the last week of March after rival Toyota Motor Corp. launched no-interest financing and low-cost leases earlier in the month.

Honda’s incentive spending still is 27 percent below the industry average of $2,609. From 2002 to 2009, Honda’s incentive spending was on average 67 percent less than the industry average.

But this year, Honda’s U.S. vehicle sales have increased 11 percent, while sales of many rivals have grown faster. Overall U.S. auto sales are up 15.5 percent, while Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have seen their sales rise more than 30 percent and General Motors Co.’s sales are up 17 percent.

Toyota, which has been slowed by recall and quality troubles, has sold 7 percent more vehicles so far this year, but its sales jumped 40 percent in March after it introduced higher incentives.

Honda executives on Wednesday said during a conference call to talk about the company’s annual results that the automaker would hold the line on incentives to prevent the degradation of the value of the vehicles customers purchase.