Gasgoo.com (Shanghai December 15) - Honda's sales in China have slipped again this year, Caijing reported today. The Japanese manufacturer sold 58,228 vehicles in November, 3.3 percent lower than the amount sold last year.

Of its two joint ventures in the country, Guangqi Honda was the more profitable, with monthly sales reaching 33,368 units. The JV's sales, however, slipped 9.4 percent from last year. Dongfeng Honda's sales, meanwhile, totaled 24,860 units, 6.3 percent higher than in 2010.

Still, negative growth of 3.3 percent is still better than Honda's performance in previous months. With the exception of August, Honda's monthly sales have been considerably lower than in 2010, especially in the second quarter, where its sales decreased near 30 percent.

2011 has been a rough year for Honda. The manufacturer is still suffering the effects Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. These are further compounded by the flooding in Thailand which has harmed the manufacturer's production facilities there. The Thai flooding saw Honda lose one of its factories, resulting in a five percent decrease in overall global production. Shortages of key auto parts have further increased production problems for the manufacturer's factories worldwide.

However, the manufacturer's Chinese branch was adamant that the floods would not harm Chinese production. "Honda's Chinese factories are absolutely not reliant on Thai auto parts, so the impact from the flood should be relatively small," Honda China Spokesman Zhu Linjie said, adding that Honda China had yet to import automobiles from Thailand.

Honda's sales goal for 2011 is set at 638,000 units, 12.7 percent less than its original target and only slightly higher than its total sales last year. The manufacturer has sold 539,400 vehicles in the country so far.