Thai floods shut down Honda operations in Philippines
The flooding in Thailand has forced Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. to temporarily cease operations of some of its units in the region, including Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI).
In a statement issued Thursday, HCPI said it had temporarily suspended production at its Sta. Rosa, Laguna plant “due to limited parts supply caused by the flooding in Thailand.”
“Honda deeply regrets any inconvenience this may cause our customers, and request their understanding during these times. Honda and its suppliers are devoting all efforts to minimize the impact on our customers,” the statement read.
According to the company, it is not sure when production will resume since it will all depend on developments in Thailand.
Periodic reviews will be conducted to determine the feasibility of restarting operations, it added.
HCPI declined to comment when asked how the Laguna plant personnel would be affected by the halt in production.
“We are not disclosing information on our associates’ working conditions nor on their salaries and benefits. We are continuing to have open communications and a good relationship with our associates during these challenging times,” the company said.
HCPI produces the City and Civic nameplates at its Sta. Rosa plant. The other models that it sells in the country, include the Jazz and CR-V, come from Thailand.
Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co. Ltd. has not been operating since October 4 due to parts supply disruption. As of end-October, it was unclear when the plant could resume manufacturing activities.
The operations of motorcycle and power products producer Thai Honda Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has also been suspended since October 6 due to the same problem.
It is scheduled to start operating again Friday.
Other Honda manufacturing facilities in Asia have adjusted their production volumes due to parts supply limitations, while those in other regions continue to monitor the situation before making any decision.
Honda is the third biggest seller of cars in the Philippines.
In the first eight months of the year, it sold 9,062 units, accounting for 9.7 percent of the market, according to the local auto industry association.
After three months of unusually heavy rains and a failure to release enough water from dams early in the monsoon season, Thailand is now experiencing its worst flooding in half a century.
Honda on Monday announced that it would slash production at its North America plants by 50 percent this week because of the supply problems in Thailand.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) Corp. will also be implementing a production adjustment this month, also due to the flooding in Thailand.
“We’re maintaining normal working days, but we’re implementing a production adjustment,” TMP vice president Rommel Gutierrez said in a phone interview.
He declined to say by how much the company would scale back its production.
Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. maintained normal operations since none of its plants were affected by the flooding, said Arlan Reyes, MMPC assistant manager for advertising and promotions. With a report from AFP
Originally posted at 05:24 pm | Thursday, November 03, 2011
