Honda to Celebrate Restart of Thai Plant; Second Factory Reportedly Planned

Honda Thailand is planning a March 31 ceremony to commemorate the resumption of vehicle production this week for the first time since massive floods rolled through its plant in Ayutthaya province last October.

The factory, which has an annual capacity of 40,000 units, has been on hiatus for nearly six months since the historic floods. Honda says production loss totals about 120,000 vehicles.

Companywide efforts have been focused on cleaning, inspecting, repairing and replacing plant facilities and manufacturing equipment damaged by the high water. Current output is limited to only 12% of capacity, but Honda expects full production to resume by the second week of April.

The auto maker also may be planning a new production facility in Thailand. Japan’s Nikkei business newspaper says the second plant likely would be built in the southeastern part of the country, where the risk of flooding is lower.

The new factory reportedly would have an annual production capacity of 120,000 units and launch as early as 2015.

Honda in Japan has been supplying vehicles to some countries in the Asia/Pacific and Oceania regions that have been impacted by the disruption of Thai production.

Some media reports have suggested the auto maker wanted to move its Thai operation to Indonesia, where it plans to build a new assembly plant.

However, Honda says in a statement it has positioned its Thai subsidiary as one of the most-important production operations in the Asia-Oceania region and is committed to its full recovery.

“Honda will maintain the same positioning of (Honda Thailand) in the future and further promote business operations in Thailand,” it says.