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Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Honda's CFO said Wednesday that he doesn't envision vehicle exports from Japan falling anytime soon, despite the yen being near a 15-year high against the dollar.
"Our export models are the CR-V and hybrids, but the CR-V is selling well in the U.S. and production of the model is at full capacity (in the U.S.), so we have no choice but to export from Japan," Yoichi Hojo said in a meeting with reporters.
He said that as production volume of hybrid vehicles is not large at present - around 200,000 hybrids a year - it is more efficient to produce them at a single plant in Japan.
Honda plans to produce 72,000 CR-V small sport-utility vehicles in Japan in the current fiscal year through March, of which half are headed for the U.S. market, the CFO said.
He added that the car maker is considering increasing production of the SUV model at a plant in Ohio and another plant in Mexico when it rolls out the redesigned CR-V this autumn.
Japanese car makers have gearing up to build more vehicles overseas in order to counter the threat posed by the yen's appreciation and to provide vehicles at a lower cost to local markets.
But it is tough to respond quickly to the currency's sudden strength as it takes months to lay out facilities needed to increase output at overseas factories.
Hojo said that one way Honda is working on measures to cope with the stubbornly strong yen is by using lower-cost parts made in China, India or other overseas countries.
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