Honda dumps damaged cars

The carmaker will dump 1055 Brio, Jazz and City light cars that were submerged during the Thai floods that started in late October. The environmentally focused carmaker hopes to recyccle as many components as possible but won't damage customer confidence by reusing parts from the damaged vehicles, or repair and onsell the vehicles themselves. 

The media was invited to the mass demolition to show the specialist workers hired by Honda to dismantle the cars are doing it in the most environmentally friendly way possible. They are draining liquids from the engine and then dissemble the car in a step-by-step process. Where possible, components will be recycled for use in new vehicles. 

Finally, the skeleton of the car is lifted by a crane into a massive mobile pressing machine which compacts the chassis. The metal cube is then shipped out to be melted down and re-used. 

"While we were able to relocate many new cars that were awaiting shipment to a safe area and made every effort to protect our plant, but with the massive amount of flood water... 1055 vehicles that remained in the plant were finally damaged by the flood," Honda Thailand executive vice-president Pitak Pruittisarikorn, says. 

Pruittisarikorn says the process of scrapping the cars is a reflection of Honda's commitment to delivering the "highest quality" to its customers. "We will not sell any of the damaged cars to customers, or reuse any of the parts". 

Thailand announced in December that more than 700 people died in the floods, which at their height affected 65 of the 77 provinces in the low-lying nation and forced the closure of seven major industrial parks, disrupting global supply chains. 

The waters have since receded but many industrial sites will still need to reinvest in infrastructure to restore plants to normal operation. Honda began ordering new plant for its Rojana site last month and has had its employees on full pay since the floods first forced the closure of the factory.