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Honda's
commitment to making dreams come true transcends geographical boundaries. Accordingly,
we are working to reinforce our grasp of local needs in markets around the world
and to respond with appropriate products by expanding the scale of our global
operations, while focusing on localized product development and manufacturing.
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WORLDWIDE
PRODUCTION NETWORK
Honda divides its global business into five regional operations: Japan; North America; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia and Oceania. Our worldwide organization, which has grown rapidly over the years, currently comprises 109 overseas manufacturing facilities in 29 countries. In fiscal 2002, we commenced operations at several new facilities, including a new motorcycle plant for Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (Private) Limited (HMSI); a second automobile plant for Honda of the U.K. Manufacturing Ltd. (HUM); a new automobile plant in the United States, Honda Manufacturing
of Alabama, LLC (HMA); and a new motorcycle production
and sales joint venture in China. In early 2003, we plan to
commence operations at new automobile plants in Malaysia and Indonesia.
To strengthen our worldwide production network, we are currently implementing a strategy that we have dubbed the Global Supply Network, through which we are taking steps to link facilities in different regions, creating a mutually beneficial system that facilitates global procurement and production
and ensures a swifter and more accurate responsiveness to customer needs. In line with this concept, a facility in one
market might, for example, manufacture automobiles or
motorcycles specifically for export to another region. As an example of this strategy, and to maximize the increased production capacity resulting from the start-up of its second automobile plant, in autumn 2001 the U.K.'s HUM facility in Swindon began exports of the Civic 3-door to North America and Japan. In April 2002, the company also began exporting the CR-V to North America. We are also promoting a highly flexible and efficient manufacturing network for smaller production facilities in Asia designed to encourage greater sharing of complementary components and products within these markets.
A CUSTOMER-ORIENTED APPROACH
Of course, our objective is not simply to establish manufacturing facilities worldwide. We are also working closely with local sales and R&D bases to improve our grasp of customer needs in different regions, thus ensuring a faster, more effective response with the most appropriate products and services.
Examples of the success of these efforts include the Accord, for which we have created several designs tailored specifically to the needs of different markets around the world; the Fit and Mobilio subcompact cars and the Step Wagon and Stream minivans in Japan, both of which are high growth market categories; and the Acura MDX and Pilot, both developed exclusively for the North American market, where SUVs are
particularly popular. In response to increasing demand for
diesel-powered automobiles in European markets, we launched the Civic mounted with a 1.7-liter diesel engine from Isuzu Motors Limited. We are currently developing a new 2.0-liter
diesel engine for the upcoming new Accord. In Asia, we have developed and introduced products suited to the particular road and driving conditions of the region, including the City compact sedan and the Cub motorcycle, with plans to expand the focus of these efforts to the small car category in the near future. |
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