Honda turns to Thai supply

Honda is reverting to Thai-built Jazz, Civic, CR-V and City models following the repair of its Ayutthaya plant after devastating floods last year.

Buyers who prefer sushi to pad thai better get in quickly as the brief supply of Japanese-built Hondas (excluding Accord Euro, Legend, CRZ and Odyssey) will soon dry up. Thailand has a lot of appeal for motor manufacturers wanting to cut costs because of low labour rates running at about $300 a month for assembly line workers.

Labour costs for the extensive component supply industry in Thailand would be similar or lower. It comes as no surprise that some four million vehicles a year come out of Thailand, many of them Hondas. They have been using Thailand as the source for much of the Australian Honda inventory for quite a few years.

Honda Australia wants to sell 40,000 vehicles in Australia this year. Honda says its facilities around the world adhere to the same strict manufacturing standards, with quality assured from every factory no matter where it is located. Honda Australia imports vehicles from Japan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.