Honda Thailand Preparing for New Flood Threat

With flood waters rolling down from the South, Honda Thailand is making emergency plans in case its plant in Ayutthaya province goes under water again.

The auto maker only resumed production in late March after a 4-month restoration program following last year’s massive floods that destroyed most of the facility’s equipment and ruined more than 1,000 new cars parked outside the plant.

The Thai National News Bureau reports 11 provinces across the country, including Ayutthaya, have been declared flood-disaster zones. Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee has ordered the opening of a Water Situation Monitoring and Analysis Center with representatives from 17 agencies to coordinate a flood-response plan.

Plodprasop tells reporters the government is confident it will be able to tackle flood threats efficiently this year. “Current water volume is much lower than last year,” he says.

Honda Thailand Executive Vice President Pitak Pruittisarikorn tells The Nation newspaper the auto maker is making plans to prepare a vehicle-inventory area and transfer machinery and staff to another location.

He says Honda is working with the Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya, 50 miles (80 km) north of Bangkok, where its car-assembly plant is located, to monitor the situation. The park reports the 18-ft.- (5.5-m-) high concrete flood-protection barrier surrounding it is 99% completed.

The National News Bureau reports Ayutthaya Gov. Wittaya Pewpong as saying the flood level in the province is stable because the amount of water released from Chao Phraya Dam into the Chao Phraya River has been reduced.

He says the water level in the river in the inner Ayutthaya area is 6.6 ft. (2 m) below the flood barriers.

Despite the flood threat, Honda Thailand has gone ahead with the launch of its all-new Honda CR-V. The cross/utility vehicle is the ninth new Honda model to debut in Thailand since the reopening of its Ayutthaya operations.

Honda’s sales in Thailand have bounced back strongly from a lack of inventory during the first quarter, with July deliveries spiking 186.8% to 20,508 units, second only to local market leader Toyota.

Through August, Honda’s sales were up 42.9% to 86,979 units, putting it in third place.