China, April 10, 2001 - Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., Honda's joint venture company in China, (Headquarters: Guangzhou City, China; President : Koji Kadowaki) held a line off ceremony for the new Accord V6 three-liter model today, and announced that sales will begin from April 26 throughout China.

Projected annual sales for the latest model will be 5,000 units. The 3-liter model is priced at RMB 348,000 yuan (about 5.22 million yen).
(*RMB 1 yuan = 15 yen, as of April 5, 2001)

The introduction of this new Accord creates a line-up of three Accords produced and sold by Guangzhou Honda (the 2-liter, 2.3 liter and 3-liter) to broaden appeal to customers.

Honda President and CEO Hiroyuki Yoshino, who attended the line-off ceremony, said: "Following this initial success, we intend to produce ever-higher quality Honda brand passenger cars based on our solid partnerships in China."

Guangzhou Honda President Koji Kadowaki said sales growth is the result of close cooperation between Honda and its Chinese partners, and that the company's future strategy will be based on meeting customer needs, including offering a total service from sales to maintenance.

The Accord V6 3-liter is positioned as an upper grade model compared to the 2-liter and 2.3-liter models, and is fully equipped, making it equal to the highest-grade Accord model in North America.

In response to customer requests for a more luxurious vehicle, the Accord V6 3-liter model offers a quiet cabin environment, with powerful engine torque and dynamic body styling.

The V6 3-liter engine is produced by Dongfeng Honda Engine Co., Ltd.

Automobile sales in China last year totaled 2.07 million units, of which 605,000 were passenger cars. In the past, most automobile users were government officials, but private users such as small business owners have been increasing, leading to the demand for a more luxurious vehicle.

Since production started at Guangzhou Honda in March 1999, production has steadily increased, from 10,000 units in the first year to 32,000 units last year, far more than initially expected. The cumulative number of units produced by the end of March 2001 was over 50,000 units.

These results have been achieved thanks to Honda's introduction to China of its integrated sales and service organization, including after sales maintenance, parts supply and information feedback from customers, which is used to further improve service.

This year, the number of units produced and sold in is predicted to reach 50,000, supported in part by demand for the new Accord V6 3-liter.