Honda halves Philippine output after Japan quake

MANILA, Philippines – Japan's Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it was cutting April output by half at its Philippine assembly plant due to parts shortages caused by the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

"HCPI [Honda Cars Philippines Inc.] is temporarily reducing 50 percent of its production volume from April 2011," the Philippine unit said in a statement that cited reduced supplies of imported parts.

The subsidiary did not say how this would translate in terms of numbers of vehicles assembled.

"Honda will closely monitor the situation and strive to resume normal production operations the soonest," it said.

Honda markets the Civic, Accord and CR-V models in the Philippines along with two sub-compact cars. As a whole, the Southeast Asian country had total vehicle sales of nearly 168,500 last year, according to industry data.

Honda is one of several carmakers to feel the ripple effects of Japan's worst natural disaster in nearly a century, which has disrupted an array of industries worldwide.


Source: Inquirer.net