Guangqi Honda increases production

Guangqi Honda’s current overall production capacity of 360,000 units includes 240,000 units at the Huangpu Plant and 120,000 units at the Zengcheng Plant. The company has decided to double the annual capacity of the Zengcheng Plant to 240,000 units by the latter half of 2011.

The total investment for this expansion is expected to be approximately £94m and Guangqi Honda’s total employment is expected to be increased from 6,800 to 8,000.

Guangqi Honda began production in March 1999 with the Honda Accord. Since then the company has been expanding its product lineup by adding Odyssey in 2002, Fit in 2004 and City in 2006. In addition, the Crosstour will be added to the lineup before the end of 2010 and sales of the Li Nian brand vehicle, Guangqi Honda’s proprietary automobile, is scheduled to begin in 2011.

Guangqi Honda’s 2009 sales reached 365,000 units (up 19 per cent over 2008), achieving an all-time record for a 10th consecutive year. Year-to-date sales (January through April 2010) reached 134,000 units (up 36 per cent compared to the same period a year ago), showing steady growth again this year.

Combining Guangqi Honda’s capacity expansion and the addition of Dongfeng Honda’s second plant, which is scheduled to begin operations in the latter half of 2012 with an annual production capacity of 60,000 units, Honda’s overall annual automobile-production capacity in China will be expanded from the current 650,000 units to 830,000 units by the latter half of 2012.