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Corporate January
24, 2001 |
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Honda Announces Further Changes in Motorcycle, Power Product Manufacturing
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Tokyo, January 24, 2001---Honda Motor
Co., Ltd. today announced the reorganization of its domestic manufacturing operations
for motorcycles and power products to improve flexibility and efficiency. The
changes are a continuation of plans first announced last July.
Honda will reduce the number of main motorcycles production lines at both its
Kumamoto and Hamamatsu factories to one each by this summer.
For power products, currently produced at Hamamatsu, the manufacturing of outboard
marine engines will be shifted to the newly-built Hosoe plant nearby, with production
to begin this summer on a single production line, a reduction from the current
two.
Honda will also build two new production lines at Kumamoto, utilizing the resources
made available by the renovation of the motorcycle manufacturing systems at that
factory. Production of power products other than marine engines will be shifted
from the current six lines at Hamamatsu to the two new lines at Kumamoto, starting
from 2002.
Along with the reorganization of its manufacturing operations, Honda will renovate
its production lines for both motorcycles and power products by introducing advanced
technologies already used to improve flexibility and efficiency in its automobile
manufacturing systems. The projected investment of 6.0 billion yen (approximately
$50 million at the current yen-dollar exchange rate) is expected to result in
equivalent or additional savings in operating costs by the end of the fiscal year
ending March 2004, when the total renovation will be completed.
At the same time, the surplus production equipment and know-how gathered through
this renovation will be transferred to overseas factories, thereby improving local
production capacity and procurement.
As a result of all these efforts, Honda aims to establish a global manufacturing
system which can quickly respond to changes in local economic environments, such
as currency exchange rate fluctuations.
The following table shows how the changes will impact Honda's production allocation
for motorcycles and power products in Japan and overseas locations:
<motorcycles>
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Domestic |
Overseas |
World
total |
| CY2000
result |
790,000 |
4,390,000 |
5,180,000 |
| FY2003
capacity |
500,000 |
6,500,000 |
7,000,000 |
<Power products>
| |
Domestic |
Overseas |
World
total |
| CY2000
result |
2,630,000 |
1,200,000 |
3,830,000 |
| FY2003
capacity |
2,000,000 |
4,000,000 |
6,000,000 |
( Please note that all information contained in this news release is applicable only within Japan. )
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