Tokyo, January 24, 2001---Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the reorganization of its domestic manufacturing operations for motorcycles and power products to improve flexibility and efficiency. The changes are a continuation of plans first announced last July.
Honda will reduce the number of main motorcycles production lines at both its Kumamoto and Hamamatsu factories to one each by this summer.
For power products, currently produced at Hamamatsu, the manufacturing of outboard marine engines will be shifted to the newly-built Hosoe plant nearby, with production to begin this summer on a single production line, a reduction from the current two.
Honda will also build two new production lines at Kumamoto, utilizing the resources made available by the renovation of the motorcycle manufacturing systems at that factory. Production of power products other than marine engines will be shifted from the current six lines at Hamamatsu to the two new lines at Kumamoto, starting from 2002.
Along with the reorganization of its manufacturing operations, Honda will renovate its production lines for both motorcycles and power products by introducing advanced technologies already used to improve flexibility and efficiency in its automobile manufacturing systems. The projected investment of 6.0 billion yen (approximately $50 million at the current yen-dollar exchange rate) is expected to result in equivalent or additional savings in operating costs by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2004, when the total renovation will be completed.
At the same time, the surplus production equipment and know-how gathered through this renovation will be transferred to overseas factories, thereby improving local production capacity and procurement.
As a result of all these efforts, Honda aims to establish a global manufacturing system which can quickly respond to changes in local economic environments, such as currency exchange rate fluctuations.
The following table shows how the changes will impact Honda's production allocation for motorcycles and power products in Japan and overseas locations:
<motorcycles>
| Domestic | Overseas | World total | |
| CY2000 result | 790,000 | 4,390,000 | 5,180,000 |
| FY2003 capacity | 500,000 | 6,500,000 | 7,000,000 |
<Power products>
| Domestic | Overseas | World total | |
| CY2000 result | 2,630,000 | 1,200,000 | 3,830,000 |
| FY2003 capacity | 2,000,000 | 4,000,000 | 6,000,000 |
( Please note that all information contained in this News Releases is applicable only within Japan. )