Honda to shift focus of Ayutthaya plant in Thailand

MANILA: Honda Motor Company will shift the focus of its Ayutthaya production plant in Thailand next year.

The said factory will pivot from building cars to manufacturing parts for the company, leaving Honda’s Prachinburi factory (its second facility in Thailand) to shoulder the production load for the region.

While many Honda cars sold in the country are produced in Thailand, the brand's local arm assured that the forthcoming move to cease vehicle production in one of the two plants in The Land of Smiles will not affect the volume of supply for its Filipino customers.

“The reason why we’re shifting it is so that we can streamline the process and focus the resources. Ayutthaya will now be focusing on spare parts and parts manufacturing, of course maintaining the quality of standards in terms of manufacturing for Honda, which we’ve cultivated within the years, and Prachinburi will be manufacturing all the vehicles and it will also help us in our transition to xEV (a term used for electric vehicles in general),” Honda Cars Philippines Incorporated Department Manager for Communications Rex Decena told Zigwheels Philippines in an interview.

“In terms of supply — because that’s also partly of concern — there’s no impact in supply because there is no decrease in production, it’s just re-focus in production and streamlining in our process,” he added.

To note, the Philippine-market Honda cars produced in Thailand are the City, Civic, CR-V, HR-V, and the recently updated City Hatchback.

Reportedly, Honda’s move to cut off vehicle manufacturing in its Ayutthaya factory by 2025 was prompted by an increased demand in electric vehicles.

Further, the aggressive efforts of Chinese car companies to take over market shares in Thailand also spurred Honda’s decision.

Combined Honda Ayutthaya and Prachinburi produced some 228,000 units in 2019. Just four years later, its production dropped to 150,000 units.

Relatedly, Honda’s sales in Thailand have remained under the 100,000 mark in each of the four aforementioned years.

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