Honda Taiwan to Restart Auto Production after Feb.

Taipei, Jan. 10, 2012 (CENS)--Honda Taiwan Motor Co., a fully-owned subsidiary of Honda Japan, reportedly plans to restart auto assembly after February, according to industry sources.

Honda Taiwan's production was interrupted on December 15, 2011 by the flood in Thailand, which forced Honda's parts suppliers to halt production.

Honda Japan recently announced that its parts suppliers in Thailand will restart production in turn from January, and has been aggressively seeking parts supply from other nations. But Honda Taiwan has admitted that the production volume initially after the production restart will be lower than normal, with full recovery to be achieved by late first quarter.

Besides having delayed announcement of the 2012 sales goal, Honda Taiwan will also postpone the demonstration of the locally assembled Honda Civic sedan to the second half. Also to cope with the temporary product supply shortage, Honda Taiwan recently refocused to promote imports, specifically the CR-Z and Insight hybrids.

The new CR-Z hybrid, according to Honda Taiwan, has a 1.5L i-VTEC gasoline engine and an electric motor, generating a maximum 124 hp, achieving 21 kilometers per liter of gasoline and is priced at NT$1.39 million (US$46,333) in Taiwan, with its major rival being the Lexus CT-200h.