Honda slashes more production units from annual plan

By Ralph Kisiel
Honda Motor Co. will shave another 18,000 units from its North American production plan by the end of its fiscal year on March 31.
 
The cuts will come from assembly plants in Lincoln, Ala., and East Liberty and Marysville, Ohio.
 
That brings to 50,000 units the total Honda has trimmed from its plan since August.
 
Honda, even with its fuel-efficient four-cylinder Honda Civic, is not immune to the economic turmoil that has slowed auto sales. Honda's U.S. sales plunged 25 percent in October from a year ago and fell 3.2 percent during the first 10 months.
 
The Detroit 3 also slashed production this year. And Toyota Motor Corp. yesterday said it will halt production at all U.S. and Canadian auto plants for two days in December to reduce its flow of vehicles into a sagging U.S. market.
 
Honda said it will cut 12,000 units from the Alabama plant, which builds the Honda Odyssey minivan and Honda Pilot crossover, and 6,000 units combined from Marysville and East Liberty.
 
"We've got to watch the inventories and keep the value of the vehicles up for the customers," says Ed Miller, Honda's spokesman in Detroit.
 
In Alabama, the plant will reduce daily production, Miller says. The plant builds 1,300 vehicles a day on two assembly lines. In January and February, the plant will go to 1,150 a day. And in March, it will go to 1,000 a day.
 
The Ohio plants will extend the December holiday to include Dec. 22 and 23. The holiday shutdown typically is one week between Christmas and New Year's Day, Miller says. On those two days, employees may come to work and do other jobs, take paid vacation or stay home without paid vacation without a penalty to their attendance bonus, he says.
 
The East Liberty plant builds the Civic sedan, Civic GX natural gas vehicle and Honda Element and CR-V crossovers. The Marysville plant builds the Honda Accord sedan and coupe, the Acura TL sedan and the Acura RDX crossover.
 
Honda expects to finish the fiscal year with 1.412 million units of production in North America, Miller says.
 
In 2009, Honda will add some work to the Alabama plant when it moves its Honda Ridgeline pickup there from Canada in January, and the Accord sedan from Ohio to Alabama in mid-2009.
From: Automotive News

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