Honda to resume production in Thailand next month

BANGKOK, Feb 1 – Japanese automaker Honda will resume production at its Ayutthaya assembly plant, north of Bangkok, in March, a top company executive said Wednesday.

Pitak Pruittisarikorn, executive vice president of Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co said the firm is installing machinery and testing systems at its assembly plant in the Rojana Industrial Estate, hit by last year’s flood.

After resuming production, it then will manufacture auto parts to supply Honda plants in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Facilities in other countries, affected by supply chain disruptions due to the Thai flood crisis last year, are expected to be able to resume operation in April.

Mr Pitak said the Office of Industrial Economics recently announced criteria and conditions for complete car import approvals and the company is working on importing the Honda Jazz and Accord from Japan for distribution to customers in Thailand from the end of February onwards to offset the domestic production loss.

Scrapping the1,055 Honda cars irreparably damaged by the floods began Dec 27, he said, and will finish by Feb 25. (MCOT online news)

-- NNT 2012-02-01

So are they going to resume production of automobiles, parts or both? I'm a little confused.

EDIT: Just searched and found some better information.

BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co. plans to resume production at its Ayutthaya assembly plant by the end of March, Executive Vice President Pitak Pruittisarikorn said in a statement Tuesday.

"In October 2011, we had to temporarily suspend production at our facilities in Rojana Industrial Park, which inevitably impacted unit sales ... we have finished repairing and installing production equipment and are now running thorough system checks," he said.

Until production resumes, the company will import Honda Jazz and Accord models from Japan for local sales, said Pitak.

The production of parts for export to Honda's plants in other ASEAN countries will also resume. Honda expects the plants, which had to suspend production due to a shortage of parts caused by the flooding in Thailand, to restart normal operations in April, he added.

-By Bangkok bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 66 2690 4200; [email protected]

Edited February 1, 201214 yr by IsaanUSA