Honda Motor Co said it might halt some US production due to the nine-month labor dispute at west coast ports, one day after citing quality issues for a decision to scrap its target of 6 million annual vehicle sales.
The Japanese automaker has yet to decide on trimming US output, or on what models or plants might be affected, Honda spokeswoman Akemi Ando said on Saturday at a company event in Asahikawa, Japan. Honda would not set a global sales target in its next midterm plan, Honda chief executive officer Takanobu Ito said on Friday, because pressure to reach the 6 million objective contributed to lapses in quality that led to record recalls last year.
Honda cut profit forecasts for the second time in as many quarters last month after recalls tied to flawed Takata Corp air bags and the new hybrid systems in its best-selling Fit compact car and Vezel sports utility vehicle. Honda’s worst quality issues in decades have derailed plans to introduce new models, led Ito to take a pay cut and triggered the projection of Honda’s first profit drop in three years.
Beset by the biggest quality problems under his stewardship, Ito, 61, has said he plans to bring the company back to basics and signaled that Honda would no longer pursue business expansion as its main target.
Ito said on Friday the company has no intention of rescuing Takata financially and would work with the company to identify the root cause for the air-bag flaws in order to end the crisis.
Honda recalled 5.4 million vehicles last year in the US to replace air bags made by Takata, in which it has a 1.2 percent ownership stake.
The devices can rupture during deployment and propel metal shards at passengers and have been linked to four fatalities in the US and the deaths of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Malaysia.
While the Takata recalls affected at least nine other automakers, scrutiny of how Honda responded to the flaws led to the US government slapping the company with a record US$70 million fine for failing to report more than 1,700 death and injury incidents to regulators over 11 years.
Honda’s quality problems go beyond the defective air bags. The automaker has called back the Fit — its top-selling model — five times since its introduction in late 2013, and recalled the Vezel three times.
Those fixes delayed the roll-out of other new vehicles by as long as six months. Honda executive vice president Tetsuo Iwamura said the recalls have led to a cut in the domestic sales forecast by 40,000 units in the current fiscal year.
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