Honda Australia Welcomes First Thai-Built Vehicles Since Floods

TULLAMARINE, AUSTRALIA – May 30, 2012: Honda Australia yesterday welcomed the first delivery of Thai-built Hondas from its plant in Ayutthaya since devastating floods suspended operations in October last year.

Honda Australia’s Director and General Manager Sales and Marketing, Mr. Stephen Collins, said the delivery was significant for Honda’s operations in Australia, strengthening its aggressive strategy to achieve 40,000 sales this year.

“The Ayutthaya factory in Thailand is vital to the success of Honda Australia, with 80 percent of stock sourced from this factory. This is our first shipment of vehicles in many months and includes Jazz, Civic, CR-V and new-look City models.

“Product from this factory benefits our customers in two ways. They receive high-quality products built to Honda’s stringent global standards as well as competitive pricing as a result of the Australia-Thai Free Trade Agreement,” Mr. Collins said.

Honda facilities around the world adhere to the same strict manufacturing standards, with quality assured from every factory no matter where it is located. Honda Australia imports vehicles from Japan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

In 2011, Honda faced several challenges. An earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan affected Honda’s research and development facility and some production; and flooding in Thailand impacted supply of stock and subsequently, world-wide sales.

Honda Australia has been resilient in the face of these natural disasters, re-sourcing product from Japan while continuing with plans to launch new cars in Australia; the all-new ninth-generation Honda Civic, launched in February this year which was re-sourced from Japan along with the limited edition Jazz Vibe. These products are usually sourced from the Ayutthaya factory.

Honda Australia also forged ahead with other launches, including the 2011 Drive Car of the Year ‘Best People Mover’ the Honda Odyssey and the 2011 Wheels Car of the Year, the sporty Honda CR-Z Hybrid, launched in November last year.

This year, Honda Australia plans to win back market share by achieving 40,000 sales. Mr. Collins said: “To date, Honda has been tracking on target, with 2,485 units sold in April and excellent sales of the all-new Civic sedan [1,804 sales since March 2012], Jazz Vibe [2,617 sales YTD] and Accord Euro [2,637 YTD].”

Supply will return to normal from July, just after Honda releases the all-new, European-built Civic Hatch to take up the fight in the small hatch market. In the final quarter, Honda will launch the all-new CR-V.

Honda is the world’s biggest engine manufacturer, a leader in automotive research and development and consistently rated a top performer in customer satisfaction. There are more than 400,000 Hondas on the road in Australia and millions of happy customers world-wide.