HONDA resumes assembly line

A major automaker has officially resumed its production work, which had been halted because of the flood crisis in late 2011.

Mr. Hiroshi Kobayashi, President and CEO of Asian Honda Motor, chaired the official resumption of the company’s assembly line in the Rojana Industrial Park on Saturday.

Honda’s assembly line had been halted since last November and the company had spent the last 3 months restoring its plants.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Kobayashi stated that Honda is determined to produce as many as 240,000 cars this year, even though there are only 9 months left before the year’s end.

Out of this target, he said 150,000 units will be for domestic sales while the rest will be for exports.

Mr. Kobayashi also affirmed that Honda will not move its production base to other countries as the company is confident in the Thai government’s flood prevention and water management plans.

Meanwhile, Honda Automobile (Thailand)’s Executive Vice President Pitak Pruittisarikorn added that the company still has around 60,000 cars to deliver to its customers. Therefore, Honda is putting all its 6,400 employees into the 2-shift schedule to produce as many as 1,000 cars each day to fulfill its promises with buyers as soon as possible.

Mr. Pitak said that he expects the company’s full assembly line will be operational within 3 months.