Honda Begins Production of Accord Brands in Nigeria
Honda Manufactures in Nigeria
The company said it has begun the building of cars in Nigeria by retooling part of its factory that previously made motorcycles.
Honda’s new chief executive, Takahiro Hachigo, said this at his first news conference since taking the helm in June, on Monday in Tokyo.
Hachigo said the company, which began production in July (this month), planned to produce 1,000 of its Accord sedans annually at the plant in Nigeria.
The new chief executive said Honda would boost the production if the local market grows, adding that the plant would service other African countries.
This is coming as part of the former administration’s goal of bringing car manufacturers to Nigeria to help boost the country’s economy and reduce unemployment. The Federal Government of Nigeria last year decided to increase the tariff paid by car importers purchasing new vehicles to 70% as a measure to encourage vehicle manufacturers to build their manufacturing plants in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, speaking on the recalling of its over 2 million cars due to its faulty airbag, Hachigo says it has no plans, for now, to provide financial aid to Takata Corp, the airbag supplier at the center of a costly global airbag recall.
However, Hachigo said Honda had set aside enough to cover the cost of recalling over 2 million cars with potentially faulty airbag parts made by Takata.
“We have money budgeted for quality-related costs, as we did last year, and we think we can respond within this allocated amount,” Hachigo told reporters.
Last month, Honda revised its operating profit for the year ended March to 606.88 billion yen ($4.92 billion) from the 651.68 billion yen it reported in April to account for expanded recall costs.
At 55, Hachigo begins his stewardship of Japan’s third-biggest automaker with a mission to restore the firm’s reputation for quality.
In the Takata airbag safety scare regulators have linked eight deaths to the component, all in cars made by Honda.
Hachigo’s predecessor Takanobu Ito and other executives took a pay cut last October, following a fifth recall of its Fit hybrid subcompact in a year. which had quality glitches unrelated to Takata-made inflators.
In total, tens of millions of cars carrying Takata-made parts have been recalled around the world by a range of automakers.
Some Takata airbag inflators have exploded with too much force, spraying shrapnel inside vehicles, regulators have found.
As Hachigo seeks to develop business, he said the company remained open to alliances with other automakers as long as such tie-ups were of benefit to Honda.
In one such deal, the Japanese firm already has an alliance with General Motors Co, to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology.
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