KARAWANG, Indonesia, January 15, 2014 - Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) officially opens its new second factory located in Karawang, West Java, Indonesia, with a grand opening ceremony on January 15, 2014. The grand opening ceremony was attended by:

Development of HPM’s second factory was started with a ground breaking ceremony on June 4, 2012. The second factory is located beside the HPM’s first factory, and its development was supported with 3.1 Trillion rupiah investment.

The second factory has total building area of 145,760 m2 with main production line facilities including welding area, engine assembly, frame assembly, and painting area. The factory also supported with including material supply area, stamping, plastic injection, plastic painting and vehicle quality. Layout of these facilities were designed in compact area to create faster and more efficient material supply for production processes.

HPM’s second factory was projected to be a high-efficiency and low-cost factory under harmonization of automation and manual work. Moreover, this factory also implemented environment-friendly and worker-friendly system, including more open and spacious space, safe and comfortable work area, sun day-lighting, and better air conditioning.

With production capacity of 120,000 units per year, the second factory has increased the total production capacity of HPM to 200,000 units per year. This new factory will be used to produce new Honda models in Indonesia, starting with Honda Mobilio. Production for Honda Mobilio has increased the level of local content in HPM production to 86%, while at the same time added the number of local parts and local supplier for Honda in Indonesia. With the start of second factory operation, the number of local supplier for HPM has increased from 100 to 145 companies.

The second factory of HPM is projected to absorb an estimation of 2,000 to 5,000 new employess. Previously, the number of employee in HPM first factory was estimated 3,600 people. Currently HPM employs estimated 7,500 employess in its two factories.

Takanobu Ito, President & CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., said, “This expansion of business in Indonesia to meet market demand reflects the Honda Company Principle to supply products of the highest quality, yet at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction. Indonesia has always been an important market for Honda. Now, we are advancing our commitment to expand Honda business in Indonesia. Through our products and our operations it is our goal that Honda will be a company that society wants to exist.”

Tomoki Uchida, President Director of PT HPM, said, “The establishment of our new factory is an effort to meet increasing customer’s demand for Honda products, along with the automotive industry growth in Indonesia. With increasing production capacity and supported by new product like Honda Mobilio, this is another step toward our target of achieving 300,000 units of sales in Indonesia in 2016. In 2014, we are targeting sales of 170,000 units of sales in Indonesia, with 80,000 units expected to be contributed by Honda Mobilio sales.”

Last year, Honda managed to set new record for its own sales in Indonesia with a total of 91,493 units of sales. Honda’s sales achievement in 2013 has grown 132% from previous year, which was the highest growth among other brands in the industry. Moreover, Honda also able to increase its market share from 6.2% in 2012 to 7.5% by the end of 2013, while products like Jazz, CR-V, Civic and CR-Z became market leaders in each respective segments.