Honda to double engine output

Honda to double engine output

BANGKOK: Thailand's second-largest automaker, Honda of Japan, said on Thursday it plans to double its engine production, which would make its facility here its fourth-largest engine plant.

The company plans to invest 1.45 billion baht (US$34.5 million) to double the engine production capacity of its manufacturing and assembly plant in the central province of Ayutthaya, Honda (Thailand) said in a statement.

The expansion would increase the production of cylinder blocks and cylinder heads, main components in engine production, from 150,000 units to 300,000 units annually.

The Thai plant would become the fourth-largest Honda engine manufacturing facility in the world after those in the United States, Japan and China.

Honda (Thailand) president Hiroshi Toda said the company was committed to supporting Thailand's drive to become a major force in the global automobile industry.

"The key to making Thailand globally competitive is to be able to combine quality with quantity," Toda said.

The Thai plant already produces to world-class standards, he said. Doubling the production capacity of important components will also achieve significant efficiencies of scale, he added.

The expansion is expected to be completed by April 2006 when it will produce some 225,000 units for export to countries including Brazil, Turkey, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The company announced in early July that it would invest 542 million baht ($12.9 million) to upgrade technology at its plant. -- AFP