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Honda Philippines Begins Mass Production at New Motorcycle Plant

Manila, Philippines, May. 22, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Honda Philippines,
Inc., Honda's subsidiary for motorcycle production and sales
as well as power product sales in the Philippines, today announced the
start of mass production at its new motorcycle plant in Tanawan City,
Batangas Province. 

HPI decided to move its original plant in February in response to
increasing customer demand, and began construction of the new plant in
March. With the new facility, HPI's annual production capacity increased
from 300,000 units to 500,000 units. Located 60 km south of the former
plant, the new plant has a potential capacity of 1 million units with
additional modifications. The building area is 42,000 sq. meters of a
200,000 sq. meters lot. Total investment was 1.43 billion pesos
(approximately 3 billion yen). Machinery and equipment from the old
plant were fully utilized in the new plant, with the addition of a new
painting line. An environmentally-friendly layout is employed for the
new plant, including natural lighting. Efficiency has been improved in
each process along the production line as well as in logistics. It is
expected that production quality also will be improved and HPI hopes to
achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction. 

The company plans to use the former plant site for expansion of a
traffic education center to increase Honda's safety-related activities
in the Philippines in response to the growing market. 

The overall motorcycle market in the Philippines has been growing
rapidly, reaching 580,000 units in 2005, a 22% increase from 2004. The
market is expected to grow further in 2006, up to more than 700,000
units.
Honda established HPI in 1983, achieving the cumulative production of 1
million units in February, 2005. Including XRM and Wave 100, the key
products of HPI, total sales reached approximately 290,000 units in
2005, a 42% increase from 2004. Sales for the first four months of this
year totaled approximately 94,000 units and represent a 6% increase from
2005. Honda's goal is to meet the growing customer demand with expanded
production capacity from the new plant. 


Honda Philippines, Inc. 
Established:		December 1983
Start of Production:	December 1983
Location: 		Batangas, Philippines 
Capital Investment:	640,860,000 pesos
Capitalization Ratio:	99.61% Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 
Representative:		Kazuhiko Ikezoe, President
Business:		         Production and sales of motorcycles,
sales of
                            power products
Employment:		Approx. 500 associates (as of May 2006) 
Annual Capacity:		500,000 units (as of May 2006)
Production Models:	         XRM(110cc),Wave 100(100cc),
Wave125(125cc),TMX155      
                           (155cc), XR200(200cc) and other products



About Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (LSE: HNDA.L) is one of the
leading manufacturers of automobiles and power products and the largest
manufacture of motorcycles in the world. Honda has always sought to
provide genuine satisfaction to people worldwide. The result is more
than 120 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries worldwide, producing a
wide range of products, including motorcycles, ATVs, generators, marine
engines, lawn and garden equipment and automobiles that bring the
company into contact with over 19 million customers annually. For more
information, please visit http://world.honda.com.

For further information, please visit the Honda Motor Co., Ltd. home
page at: world.honda.com <http://world.honda.com>