| Honda has announced that Guangzhou
Honda Automobile Co (GHAC), a car production and sales joint venture with
Honda and Guangzhou Auto Group in China, plans to build a second car plant.
It will be located in the Zeng Cheng region in Guangzhou , to the east
of the existing Guangzhou Honda plant, and will have an annual production
capacity of 120,000 units. Total investment in this project is expected
to be approximately 28 billion yen, with the new plant to be operational
in the latter half of 2006.
GHAC's new plant will accommodate production processes including stamping, welding, painting, assembly, and final inspection. The new plant will pursue high quality and high efficiency by utilising the production know-how of the existing plant, as well as adopting the advanced production equipment of Honda's flexible New Manufacturing System to achieve Honda's global standard for advanced levels of quality, efficiency and flexibility. In addition, the new plant will reflect Honda's "Green Factory" concept - to realise a more people- and environmentally-friendly factory.
GHAC began production in 1999 with an annual capacity of 30,000 units. The production capacity has grown steadily with the growth of the Chinese market, and the plant currently has an annual capacity of 240,000 units. By adding a new plant, the total production capacity of GHAC will reach 360,000 units in 2006 and will enable the company to respond to strong demand for its current product line up as well as to meet the long-term growth in demand of the Chinese car market. To support this expansion, there is also a plan to expand engine production capacity at Dongfeng Honda Engine, an engine production joint venture of Honda and Dongfeng Motor.
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