Bangkok, August 22, 2006 --- Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Honda's Asia-Oceania regional headquarters, announced that Board of Investment (BOI) of Thailand granted permission to set up a new manufacturing company in Thailand for the production of stamped body panel service parts. The new factory will strengthen Honda's ability to respond quickly to the demand for service parts in the rapidly-growing Asian automobile markets.

Asian Parts Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a new Honda subsidiary located in Ayutthaya province, will start production in June 2007. The company will produce body panels for use as service parts for global models including the Honda CR-V and Honda Jazz (Fit) for countries in Asia-Oceania as well as in Europe and Japan. Total investment for the new factory is approximately 1.279 billion baht and it will employ around 200 associates.

The Asia-Oceania automobile market is expanding, with sales of body panel service parts increasing 114% from April '05 to March '06 compared to the previous year. Until now, body panel service parts have been produced by Honda's automobile factories and suppliers in each Asia-Oceania country. With the new factory, Honda will consolidate its production of these service parts into a single location to ensure the highest quality, reduce costs and improve logistics.

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