Honda Cars: Supply of local, imported vehicles depleted come June

Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) on Tuesday said the supply of its imported and locally assembled vehicles will be depleted next month because of disruptions in the global supply chain triggered by the triple disasters that hit Japan in March. Tatsuya Natsume, newly appointed HCPI president and general manager, said in a press briefing that local and global production of the company will remain unstable in the short-term. “The production situation has yet to normalize," he said. “Considering the fluidity [of the situation], we can’t say how soon production will normalize," he added, saying the company hopes to restore normal plant operations by year-end or early next year. The supply of crucial parts, such as microcomputer chips or ECUs, are limited for now, since major producers of the Component — such as Renesas Electronics Corp. in Japan — have stopped production, Natsume said. Completely knocked down parts, meanwhile, could last as long as the company continues to implement a production cut, he added. Since April, HCPI has been operating at half of its daily production capacity of 50 to 70 units. Its locally assembled City and Civic models accounted for more than two-thirds of the company's sales last year. Three other models sold locally — Accord, CR-V and Jazz — are imported from Thailand which is also affected by disruptions in the auto supply chain, Natsume said. The supply chain disruptions would likely impact on the sales and supply of those models starting June, following the global production slowdown. — JMT/VS, GMA News