[mkaysaw]

Just came across these pictures in various news articles on the internet. Seems Hondas' Production Facility in Thailand is in a pretty bad state.

[AdityaLN]

Toyota has suspended it's profit guidance because of the Thai floods. Looks like we will have supply issues in India with Toyota models as well.

Toyota withdraws outlook on Thai floods, quake, yen | Reuters

[Wall-e]

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Vehicles at a Honda car factory are submerged in floodwaters in the Rojana industrial district in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand on October 16, 2011.

Attachment 836382

Source

Wow, i wonder what will they do to these vehicles? Any idea guys?

[abhi413]

Still no update on when production would resume, though the floods in Thailand have abated. On 23rd November upon inquiring I got a tweet from Honda.

I Quote:
"hondacarindia: We apologise for the inconvenience caused. The deliveries of the car have got impacted due to the Thailand flood situation."

No use!Even the dealer has no clue. In two minds whether I should go for one of the new launches at the Auto Expo, since clearly my money is stuck with the Honda dealer. On the brighter side, well, at least Honda admitted the issue and replied to me on twitter!

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by mkaysaw

Just came across these pictures in various news articles on the internet. Seems Hondas' Production Facility in Thailand is in a pretty bad state.

Saw a similar picture in Bangalore Mirror today, where it was mentioned that thousands of cars got deluded in the flood and after the water level receded, all the cars were covered in mud and rust. Felt extremely sad reading that.

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by Wall-e

Wow, i wonder what will they do to these vehicles? Any idea guys?

they will be "refurbished" and sent to markets like Bangladesh and Pakistan that allows import and sales of even used/near-scrapped cars. Thank the Indian automobile policy which prevents such things from happening to us.

Honda's lie is caught now. when City's prices were slashed a couple of months ago, they insisted its because of high level of localization. Its now clear the price cut was due to competition.

[RavenAvi]

Honda UK is all set to resume full production from 19th December onwards.

Honda of the UK has confirmed that “the situation has improved sufficiently to allow Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd to plan for a return to normal production activities” on 19 December.

The plant can produce a maximum of 638 vehicles per day.

“Our associates have shown great understanding over the last month and we are all now really excited about the prospect of starting to produce our new Civic,” said Andy Piatek, Director of Manufacturing at Honda in Swindon.

The Thailand catastrophe led to a 50 per cent reduction in production at the Wiltshire site, which employs 3000 people, because several small electrical and engine components could not be sourced.

While the vast majority of parts used to produce Honda’s European-built products are sourced in Europe, a few parts are sourced from Thailand.

Looks like the recovery process has started. We can expect Honda to resume full production in India from late December/early January 2012 as well.

Source - Honda UK to resume full production - Autocar.co.uk

[chennai-indian]

Originally Posted by CtrlAltDel

they will be "refurbished" and sent to markets like Bangladesh and Pakistan that allows import and sales of even used/near-scrapped cars. Thank the Indian automobile policy which prevents such things from happening to us.

Very unlikely. Honda will destroy these vehicles as that is the stated policy for all auto manufactures. I remember when a ship carrying Mazda vehicles to US was partially flooded, Mazda destroyed all the cars - even the ones which were not affected at all.

"refurbishing" usually happens for previously owned cars that get flooded - for example in the flood after Katrina in US.

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by chennai-indian

Very unlikely. Honda will destroy these vehicles as that is the stated policy for all auto manufactures.
======================
"refurbishing" usually happens for previously owned cars that get flooded - for example in the flood after Katrina in US.

So that means these cars which Honda apparently has to destroy would have been insured or its gonna be a loss for Honda ?

[RavenAvi]

Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Sr. Vice President – Marketing & Sales, Honda Siel Cars India:

“As announced earlier, the Thailand floods have severely impacted our production in the month of November due to the parts shortage and this is expected to continue in December as well. We regret the inconvenience faced by our customers due to this situation and seek their understanding in the matter. HSCI is making concerted efforts to resume full production as soon as possible.”

The company reported sales of 1,982 units during the month of November 2011.

Model wise sales break-up:

Brio: 666;

Jazz: 382;

City: 652;

Civic: 161;

Accord: 91;

CR-V: 30.


Source - Honda's Facebook page

[RavenAvi]

Now, Brio's production has been halted indefinitely, due to lack of critical electronic and underbody components.

Anyone who has booked the Brio in the meantime, has to wait some more (read "few more months") to finally get their hands on Honda's smallest Indian car.

More info - Honda Siel Cars India halts production of Brio hatchback | IndianCarsBikes.in

[p'arth]

With the facelift launch of City, is HSIL meeting the demand, given this flood situation few days ago ? What is the average waiting period now for the City?

[sgiitk]

I was in a dealership today. They claim that the situation is getting normal pretty fast. As for City sales a lot may be discounted cars in trying to get rid of the inventory.

[libranof1987]

This should answer questions about what Honda plans to do with the cars affected by the Thailand floods.

Honda scraps 1,000 flood-ravaged cars in Thailand - Honda scraps 1,000 flood-ravaged cars in Thailand | News in Pictures

It is heart-wrenching to see brand new Jazz, Brio and City out to be destroyed.

If Honda does destroy ALL the vehicles damaged due to the floods, commendable business ethics I must say!

[shortbread]

I think the Thai floods have been an excellent blessing in disguise for Honda. The company seems to have found comfort in blaming natural disasters as a reason for their flagging sales.

No doubt that the horrible happenings in Japan and Thailand have affected their production but the writing on the wall regarding their sales performance was evident long before that. Their strategy of milking the Honda brand reputation with overpriced cars even when the competition have caught up if not overtaken their models on various fronts.

Also the love shown by India toward the brand hasn't had a befitting response from Honda. The Japanese giant should have used India as the production base for Jazz/City & Brio platforms from day one. The heavy localization would have meant more competitive pricing and sales greater than what the Thai market could achieve.

Instead Honda still sees India as an assemble and sell operation with very little market specific requirements like diesel engines etc.... The latest price cuts (despite a falling rupee) is too late a measure to win back their declining market value.