On the eve of the Tokyo Motor Show, at least one Japanese automaker is focusing outside of Japan as it looks to the future. As Honda Motor Co. expects record U.S. sales this year, Honda president Takanobu Ito says that he wants the Japanese automaker's North American operations to eventually export up to 30% of their production.
Honda plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico currently export about 5% of their output. The increase in export production is expected to come particularly from plants in Ohio and Alabama. Those plants produce the Accord sedan and Pilot crossover, which are popular in export markets like the Middle East. In general, North American car and light truck production is the highest its been in 13 years, in part due to a number of car companies that have decided to make the region an export hub. By the end of 2014, Honda expects to be exporting more vehicles from North America than it imports here.
"There is not a precise figure, but ideally if the regional production capacity is 100 percent, then 70 percent to 80 percent should be sold in the local market and the rest should be supplied to other regions," Ito told the Automotive News. "I consider that the ideal on which I'm making a proposal."
That proposal is part of a realignment of Honda's worldwide production facilities. The new strategy is to make the company less dependent on its relatively high-cost Japanese facilities and also be able to be more flexible and react quicker to changes in currency exchange rates and localized consumer demand.
"My biggest challenge is trying to grow Honda globally in a well-balanced manner," Ito said. "We are asking all the regions to manage their own operations. But so far we have not been able to deliver cars in a timely manner that truly meet the differing needs of customers in the various regions."
"I believe the United States can contribute more to other regions," Ito said. "But this is not an easy-to-achieve operation."
A year ago Honda announced that since the first Ohio built Accords were shipped to Taiwan in 1987, cumulative exports from North America reached a million units. Currently Honda's NA operations ship to about 50 countries.
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment