Honda has reported a $2.91 billion loss for the first quarter of 2009, marking the Japanese automobile manufacturer's first quarterly loss in 15 years. The loss is further significant considering Honda posted a $1.75 billion profit in the first quarter of 2008.

While adverse exchange rates hurt the company’s operating income in primarily the result of a global sales drop, most of which occurred in North America.

Honda sold 680,000 vehicles globally in the first quarter of 2009, down 35.3 percent from 2008. In North America, early 2009 sales were nearly half of 2008 sales, with 219,000 compared to 459,000 last year.

Koichi Kondo, Honda's executive vice president, said the automaker's net could fall 70.8 percent by the end of 2009 and Honda could post its first full-year loss since the company was founded in 1948.