In an effort to tackle the problem of swinging currency, Honda is looking to cut its Japanese exports in half within the next 10 years—and that means building vehicles locally, including America.
The yen is strong in Japan right now, almost too strong for Honda to remain competitive. Hence, their plan to build 80-90 percent of their vehicles in local markets, including Europe, China, and the United States: the new CR-V will be primarily built in Ohio instead of Japan, for example. This will help keep costs down and reduce the impact of a rising yen that threatens to price Japanese cars out of the market.
Approximately 34 percent of the 3.57 million vehicles Honda built last year were assembled in Japan. Honda wants to reduce this figure down to 10-20 percent by the end of the decade. But for now, they’re planning to keep their production figures at 1 million vehicles from Japan, and they’re right on track for that.
Source: Reuters
