Feet Dry, Honda Builds Second Factory In Thailand
There had been rumors that Honda might flee Thailand after Honda’s Thai operation literally drowned. These rumors have been put to rest . The Nikkei [sub] says that Honda decided to build a second factory in Thailand. The plant is said to be placed into the southeastern part of Thailand where the risk of flooding is lower.
After reopening its plant in Ayutthaya Province on Monday, six months after the facility was severely damaged by floods, Honda wants to increase capacity in Thailand. The new plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 120,000 units, and should be online by 2015.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Looks like they're trying to air out those cars. Seriously?
It looks like Honda was able to save those wiper blades. And don't worry - Hondaphiles would buy up those cars without question, just as they do with the current Civics.
Gee, why not just put the new factory on top of a local hill? Or are there none handy? Every spring we get flooding as the ice melts and jams rivers and watersheds. People seem to forget all this within a few months and carry on until it happens again. Duh. And then complain. A little pre-planning, i.e. site investigation, would obviate most of these problems. However, man has a short memory, and who cares about history? Right? I hope Honda will build on elevated land for the second factory, and will be most interested to see if they do. If they don't, well they don't deserve to sell cars to anyone, and could justifiably be called terminally stupid.
Southeastern part of Thailand? There aren't any floods there, but there sure is an ongoing muslim insurgency there!