Honda Says Production Supply To Improve By July

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Honda told its U.S. dealers that vehicle inventory will reach a low point in June before allocations pick up in July.

John Mendel, Honda chief U.S. sales executive, said there is "adequate inventory to continue to support" Honda brand models that have made up 70 percent of U.S. sales so far this year.

A Honda spokesman said that meant that models that make up 70 percent of Honda brand sales so far this year have "good inventory" levels.

Mendel told Honda brand dealers that July vehicle allocations to go out next week will be 11 percent higher than in June, and that Acura allocations will rise 15 percent over that period.

Honda's Japan plants have slashed production, but Mendel told dealers that the situation will ease soon.

"We have all the confidence in our ability to increase our production in late summer," he said.

Gary Robinson, spokesman for the automaker's U.S. arm, said American dealers will have "good inventory" for all models but for Civic and those imported from Japan.

In his letter to dealers, Mendel said there is "adequate inventory on hand to compete and win in the market" for the Honda Accord sedan, the automaker's top-selling vehicle in the lucrative U.S. market.

Honda cars made in Japan are in short supply, including the subcompact Honda Fit and two lower-volume hybrid models, the Honda Insight and the Honda CRZ coupe.

There are 44 days' supply of Acura models in the U.S. market, and its Acura MDX and Acura RDX are at higher inventory levels than a year ago, Mendel told Acura dealers.

Acura models in short supply made in Japan are the small sedan TSX, the mid-size sedan TL and its flagship sedan RL.

 

[KennyGS]

 

[SOLO8thGenSi]

a LOW point in June they say.........fudge. :facepalm:
it's already low enough thanks!

 

[LizBot]

July? Yeah I highly doubt that.

 

[iluvmycsx]

Honda sees full U.S. output in August for most cars, except Civic

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DETROIT (Reuters) -- Honda Motor Co. said today its North American assembly plants will not reach full production until August for most vehicles, and it will take even longer for the high-volume Civic compact car.
Production of the 2012 Civic, a key model in the wake of high U.S. gasoline prices, will continue at a reduced rate of about 50 percent due to limited supplies of key parts caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Honda said.

Full production of the Civic, which is built at plants in Greensburg, Indiana, and Alliston, Ontario, is not expected to resume until "sometime in the fall," the company said.​

"It's important to remember that it is our newest vehicle so there are many, many more new and redesigned parts in a car that's all new compared with a vehicle that doesn't change much from one model year to the next," Honda spokesman Ed Miller said.
He also pointed out that the earthquake and tsunami occurred early in the Civic's launch process.
While not identifying the affected parts in the Civic, Honda has more generally said those impacted by the Japan crisis include electrical parts such as semiconductors and diodes, some rubber parts, and raw materials such as resins and paint materials.
Honda's current rate of production at its North American plants is around 50 percent of plan, depending on the factory, Miller said.
The Japanese automaker has two assembly plants in Ohio, one each in Indiana and Alabama, two in Ontario, Canada, and one in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.
'Adequate inventory'
A week ago, Honda said in a letter to its U.S. dealers that it had "adequate inventory" of most models for the U.S. market but was running short of the Civic just as the summer sales season was beginning.
Many consumers are shifting toward smaller, more fuel-efficient cars as gas prices hover around $4 a gallon.
In April, the Civic was the third-best-selling car in the U.S. market, behind only the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Car sales do not include the two best-selling vehicles so far this year: Ford Motor Co's F-Series pickup truck and General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.
Honda, Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. stand to lose the most U.S. sales due to lack of inventory caused by the Japan earthquake and the resulting parts shortages, according to industry consultant A.T. Kearney.
Analysts have said GM, Ford and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. stand to gain the most from the Japanese automakers' struggles.
Honda said today that production will return to 100 percent of plan for all models except the Civic as the supply of parts from Japan improves.
"The light at the end of the tunnel is glowing brighter for us, represented by this significant improvement in our production situation," John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co, said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110526/OEM01/305269845/1329#ixzz1NWZusY1E​

 

[KennyGS]