Honda Thailand scraps over 1,000 flood-damaged vehicles

Honda Thailand scraps over 1,000 flood-damaged vehicles

BANGKOK: Honda began destroying 1,055 cars in Thailand to reassure customers that no vehicles damaged in the country’s recent flood crisis will ever be sold.

 

The scrapping process at Honda’s plant in the central province of Ayutthaya is expected to take one month, the company said in a statement.

The plant is located in the Rojana Industrial Park, where heavy flooding in early October brought production to a halt and aerial pictures showed hundreds of new cars submerged in muddy water.
“While we were able to relocate many new cars that were awaiting shipment to a safe area, 1,055 vehicles that remained in the plant were finally damaged by the flood,” said Pitak Pruittisarikorn, executive vice president of Honda Automobile Thailand.
Most of the cars to be scrapped are mid-sized City sedans and Brio and Jazz hatchbacks. Production has yet to resume at the factory.
Thailand said earlier this month that over 700 people died in the floods, which at their height affected 65 of the 77 provinces in the low-lying nation and forced the closure of seven major industrial parks, disrupting global supply chains.

-AFP

Parts shortage from Thailand forces Honda Malaysia to stop production

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In a statement, the company said the floods have caused a huge number of factories in the supply chain to shut down, which include Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co Ltd and other major suppliers which supply parts to Honda Malaysia.

However, Honda Malaysia is actively accessing the situation and its parts suppliers’ recovery.
Honda Malaysia is also studying the feasibility of sourcing parts from other countries until its suppliers’ production in Thailand returns to normal.

“We announce with regret that we have to temporary halt production in Pagoh Plant, in Malacca due to parts shortage.

“We apologise for the delay of delivery and we appreciate the understanding of our customers. We are doing all we that can within our capacity to recover the production here in Malaysia as soon as possible,” said Honda Malaysia managing director and chief executive officer Yoichiro Ueno.

Assembling work at Honda Malaysia's Pagoh plant has 
stopped from today.

“The good news is that all our fully imported models such as the Insight, Stream and Freed are not affected, except for Jazz that is imported from Thailand, which we have sufficient stock to meet the current market demand,” he added.

Asian Honda Motor Co Ltd has recently donated 100 million baht (RM10mi) to Thai Red Cross Society to help flood victims in Thailand.

Honda Malaysia will keep its customers informed of the plant’s progress and it looks forward to bringing good news to the customers.


END OF SOURCE...

My (Jeff Lim's) comments: Two days ago, I visited a Honda Showroom in Petaling Jaya. The Salesgirl told me that they have Limited stocks (while stock lasts) for ALL CKD Hondas and Honda Jazz. >10 units Civic 1.8 and 2.0, >15 units NEW Accord, >15 units New City, >10 units New Jazz in Malaysia

.  Next batch of CKD will arrive only in February Earliest. As a result they "DON'T HAVE CAR TO SELL". Honda Malaysia were forced to bring the CR-Z and Jazz Hybrid to Malaysia earlier than expected. The CR-Z's coming in 2 weeks time while the Jazz Hybrid is coming in December.

In a meantime, Freed (Indonesian Made), Stream and Insight production uninterrupted.

Latest from Ayutthaya - Toyota's three factories shut down

October 19, 2011  By KON

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The situation at the flood-hit Thai region of Ayutthaya continues to worsen. Last week, we reported that Honda has halted operations of its plant there. Toyota, whose three plants are all situated away from Ayutthaya, is not directly affected.

Toyota Corolla Altis - one of many Thai-assembled Toyota models in Malaysia

However, according to a media statement released by UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd today, Toyota Motor Thailand Co. (TMT) has decided to halt operations at its three plants at Samrong, Gateway and Ban Pho due to shortage of parts from affected suppliers.

An extended shut down of these three plants will inevitably affect the Malaysian market as they supply majority of UMWT's fully-imported CBU models and CKD kits for its locally assembled models. At this moment, however, UMWT has stated that deliveries for October 2011 are not affected, although this will not continue if the flooding situation worsens.


“Our commitment to our customers remains topmost in our priority. We are closely monitoring on the parts supply situation in Thailand and will provide any updates or information in a timely manner. We sincerely hope for the quickest possible recovery and appreciate our customers and business partners understanding during these difficult times” said En. Ismet Suki, President of UMW Toyota Motor.

Car production bases to remain in Thailand despite floods

 

(picture source AFP)

BANGKOK: Despite the floods, car makers will not shift their production bases from Thailand but will only suspend production due to the shortage of auto parts, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.


Piangjai Kaewsuwan, president of the Thai Automotive Industry Association, said on Thursday although industrial estates in Ayutthaya province were flooded and automobile and auto parts manufacturers affected, the floods should not prompt car-making companies to move their production bases from Thailand because it was a temporary natural disaster.

Piangjai, however, said she expected the supply of auto parts to drop by 10-20 percent.

She added that the Thai automotive industry should take at least three months to recover and that the actual automobile production should reach at least 1.5 million units this year instead of the annual production target of 1.8 million vehicles.

Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Isuzu companies have so far suspended their production for two days to assess the situation, saying they may source auto parts from China and India instead.

Meanwhile, Anuparp Tadpitakkul, state affairs director of Ford Operations (Thailand) Co, said the company suspended its production for two days to examine its stocks of parts as seven plants were affected.

However, he said he did not think the floods will have an impact on the long-term investment of the company in Thailand.

Some 10 Malaysian companies have been found affected by the severe flooding.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said most of them were involved in the automotive and electrical and electronic sectors.

"Those who are affected operate in the flooded Ban Wa, Rojana and Navanakorn industrial parks," he told reporters after the ministry's monthly assembly in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Thai News Agency reported Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong as saying that the ongoing flood crisis could reduce the country's GDP growth by at least 0.6-0.9 per cent due to expanding damage to its farm and industrial sectors.

 -Bernama(Photo by AFP)

Floods disrupt auto production in Thailand

BusinessWeek

BANGKOK
Severe flooding has forced a halt to Honda's and Toyota's assembly lines in Thailand that account for about 7 percent of their combined global car production. American automakers Ford and General Motors are faring better.

Typhoon-driven flooding has whipsawed the Southeast Asian country since late July, killing more than 280 people and inflicting billions of dollars in damage. Flood waters from higher ground in northern and central Thailand are now menacing the capital Bangkok.

The disruption to production at Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. comes just as they bounce back from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan that destroyed autos parts suppliers and upended car production around the world.

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