TOKYO, May 16 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co will delay the start of production of its Fit subcompact car in China by one or two months because of the spread of the deadly SARS virus, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Friday.
The paper said Japan's second-biggest automaker would be forced to put off the production, planned at its Guangzhou plant from this month, even longer if the the epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome continues to spread.
Honda plans to produce 50,000 units of the Fit per year at the Guangzhou plant, but about 100 Honda engineers who returned to Japan at the end of April following the outbreak of SARS have not yet returned to the factory, the paper said.
SARS is also affecting local suppliers of parts used to make the Fit, the paper said.
Honda's Guangzhou plant produces Accord midsize sedans and the Odyssey minivans.