Honda halts auto production in China, but says quake is not to blame
Honda Motor Co. has halted production at assembly plants in China for more than two weeks, but the shutdown apparently is unrelated to the March 11 earthquake that caused widespread parts shortages.
Tokyo-based Honda stopped production on April 30 at its plants in Hangzhou and Wuhan, but spokesman Hajime Kaneko said the halt had been planned before the earthquake.
The Hangzhou plant, which makes Jazz compacts for export to Europe, will reopen after May 11, Kaneko said. The Wuhan plant, which makes the Civic for sale in China, will be closed until May 15. No other factories are closed in China, Kaneko said.
China's National Business Daily reported the shutdowns on May 4.
In recent weeks, Honda's stock price has taken a beating. Satoshi Yuzaki, a Tokyo-based analyst at Takagi Securities Co., told Bloomberg that Honda and other Japanese automakers "should resume full production as soon as possible, and avoid buyers from shifting to buying cars made by other companies."
