TOKYO—Japan’s Honda Motor Co. raised the outlook for its full-year operating profit on Wednesday thanks to weaker yen, but warned against over-optimism as it saw the chips shortage continuing and was concerned about an economic slowdown.
The mixed view from Honda reflected sentiment held widely among Japanese carmakers that although demand is strong and recovery from COVID-19 is underway, they have yet to completely shrug off negative factors hindering operations.
Honda raised its operating profit forecast to 830 billion yen ($6.15 billion) from 810 billion for the year ending March 31.
Like other automakers, Honda’s production for the first-quarter was hit by the global semiconductor shortage and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns that disrupted supplies of parts….