Guangzhou, January 15, 2003 --- Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., Honda's automobile production and sales joint venture in China, today held a line-off ceremony to launch production of the all-new Accord. Nationwide sales of the new Accord will start January 25, 2003 at a price of 259,800 yuan for the 2.4L i-VTEC model - with a first year sales target of 70,000 units.

The new Accord for the Chinese market is based on the U.S. version of Accord, which underwent a full model change in the U.S. in September 2002. Additional modifications were made to match road and usage conditions in China. In addition to achieving high levels of quality, reliability and safety, the new Accord offers excellent driving performance, a high level of comfort and functionality, as well as sporty styling. Regarding the environment, the new Accord achieved the Euro 3 standard for tail pipe emissions. 

Guangzhou Honda began production of the Accord with a production start-up in March 1999, and cumulative production and sales of the Accord have now reached approximately 139,000 units. With the launch of the all-new model, Guangzhou Honda plans to further expand Accord sales.

Local content for the new Accord will increase to 70% from the current level of about 60% as Guangzhou Honda begins the complete manufacturing process of cylinder blocks and cylinder heads from molding to machining.

In April 2002, Guangzhou Honda added production of the Odyssey. The present line-up will be further expanded in summer 2003 with the production start-up of the compact sedan, the Fit Saloon. The annual production capacity at Guangzhou Honda will increase from the current 50,000 units to 120,000 units by February 2003, with a further increase to 240,000 units by spring 2004. Production output in 2002 reached 59,000 units, taking total cumulative production and sales of Accord and Odyssey to more than 153,000 units since the start of operations. Meanwhile, the production target for 2003 has been set at 112,000 units.

Regarding the sales network, Guangzhou Honda will increase its number of dealers from approximately 140 to 200 dealers by the end of 2003. It is the first sales and service dealer network in China to be developed by a manufacturer, integrating auto sales and service into one organization, including maintenance service, parts supply and communication with customers.