Thursday, June 10, 2010

Honda Restarts Production at China Plants

Honda Motor Co. said production at two of its auto-assembly plants in China will be back to normal Friday after a two-day suspension was prompted by labor strikes.

Honda plans to resume production at its plants in Guangzhou after a strike was resolved at a parts factory that produces exhaust systems for the auto maker. The company continues to deal with a separate strike, which started Wednesday, at its Honda Lock (Guangdong) Co. unit.

The recent work stoppages are an ill-timed setback for the company as it struggles to keep up with demand in the world's biggest auto market. Honda is trying to bring its overall production capacity in the country to 830,000 vehicles from 650,000 by 2012.

But the Japanese car maker was able restart production at the two plants more quickly than during a previous stoppage, which took about two weeks to resolve. The auto maker aims to make up for lost time through overtime and holiday shifts to meet its sales target of more than 630,000 vehicles in China for this year, a Honda spokesman said.

The two auto plants run by Guangqi Honda Automobile Co. halted operations for two days from Wednesday after workers at Foshan Fengfu Autoparts—a joint venture run by Honda's 70%-held Yutaka Giken Co. and its partner—walked off the job Monday.

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