Torrance, CA (5/27/2011) - Honda
today announced plans for the accelerated recovery
of auto production in North America following
the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Honda will increase production volume at its
North American automobile plants to a rate of
100 percent of the original production plan
in August, for all models except the 2012 Civic.
As the supply of parts from Japan improves,
production will ramp up in August on a step-by-step,
plant-by-plant, and model-by-model basis, with
production returning to 100 percent of the original
plan for models including the 4-cylinder Accord,
CR-V and Acura RDX, as well as all V-6 models
including the Accord, Accord Crosstour, Odyssey,
Pilot, Ridgeline, and the Acura TL, MDX and
ZDX.
Production of the all-new 2012 Civic lineup
will continue at a reduced rate of approximately
50 percent due to the limited supply of key
components. However, this situation continues
to be evaluated and full production is expected
to resume sometime in the fall, with plans to
meet anticipated strong demand for the fuel
efficient new Civic lineup.
"The light at the end of the tunnel is
glowing brighter for us, represented by this
significant improvement in our production situation,"
said John Mendel, executive vice president of
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "Throughout
this crisis, Honda has been fighting to achieve
a speedy recovery, while maintaining a focus
on our longer-term plans for continued growth
in sales and production in order to meet the
growing needs of our customers."
Honda has managed the unprecedented parts supply
issues that resulted from the devastating impact
of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan
with no layoffs at any of its 14 production
plants in North America.
"I am quite proud of the efforts of our
manufacturing team and the steps they have taken
to keep our team of associates together during
this difficult period, while maintaining their
normal, outstanding focus on quality for the
customer," said Mendel. "We still
have challenges to overcome, but once we have
normalized operations we will owe them a great
debt of thanks."
About Honda
In 2010, 87 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles
sold in the United States were produced in North
America. Honda purchased more than $17.5 billion
in parts and materials from OEM suppliers in
2010, putting the average domestic content of
Honda automobiles at 80 percent. Honda has 14
Honda plants in North America with the capacity
to produce more than three million Honda and
Acura products each year, including Honda and
Acura automobiles, automobile engines and automatic
transmissions, Honda all-terrain vehicles, and
Honda power equipment products such as lawn
mowers, mini-tillers and general purpose engines.
Honda products are made in North America using
domestic and globally-sourced parts.
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