TOKYO - Honda Motor Co's motorcycle sales could stop growing next year after an expected 16 percent jump this term as the global credit crisis catches up with emerging markets, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Honda, the world's top motorcycle maker and Japan's No. 2 carmaker, had been enjoying rapid expansion in the segment, whose biggest markets are China, India, Brazil and other developing economies, even as demand began to wither for cars and trucks.

But Tatsuhiro Oyama, chief operating officer for Honda's motorcycle operations, said tighter credit was beginning to creep up on buyers in Thailand, Brazil and other markets, increasing the likelihood that sales would dry up next year.

"There's been a bit of a lag, but credit is being squeezed," Oyama told Reuters in an interview.

"I think if we have flat sales next (business) year we'd be lucky," he said, adding that forecasts for this year might need adjusting too.

Bucking a downward revision for car sales at virtually every automaker, Honda last month lifted its forecast for motorcycle sales for the business year to March 31 by 4 percent to 10.835 million units thanks to zooming demand in Asia.

Oyama said that was mainly due to a more realistic reading of the conservative initial forecast for Indonesian sales, and did not reflect what has become a tougher business environment for motorcycles in the past few months.

Recessionary pressures in developed countries are hurting export-driven businesses in emerging economies, leading to lay-offs and in some cases the repossession of motorcycles bought on credit, he said.

"What's important now is to make sure that supply stays in line with demand so we don't build up inventory and hurt resale prices," he said.

To that end, Honda is telling workers in Brazil to take 11 days of paid vacation between October and December as part of their due leave, instead of buying the days back as it had done in the past to keep factory lines moving. That knocked off 42,000 units of production last month, leading to a 22 percent drop in its Brazilian sales from the year-earlier month, Honda said.

Honda will also wait to bring a new motorcycle factory in southern Japan to full capacity of 500,000 units a year until demand for big bikes - mainly bound for the United States and Europe - picks up, Oyama said. The plant was due to begin running at full tilt in the first half of 2009.

Honda had set a medium-term sales goal of 18 million motorcycles a year in 2010 - a target Oyama had characterised as conservative just three months ago. That will likely have to wait now given the current weakness in the global economy, he said.

"It all depends on when the economy recovers."

Oyama said, however, that the motorcycle business as a whole was holding up better than the car side, which is suffering sharp drops in sales and profits.

The motorcycle business has traditionally helped Honda weather economic downturns better than rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co.

In the first half that ended on Sept. 30, the motorcycle division made 21 percent of the company's operating profit, up from around 16 percent last business year.

That helped temper Honda's downward profit forecast revision to 13 percent at the operating level to 550 billion yen (S$8.61 billion) for the year to March. Toyota slashed its forecast by 63 percent to 600 billion yen - only slightly above that of Honda, which sells half the number of cars.