Shanghai (ZXZC)- On July 26, Honda Motor announced via its WeChat account the plans to optimize production capacity and accelerate its transition to electrification in China.

Currently, Honda China operates seven automobile production lines with a total annual capacity of 1.49 million vehicles. As part of the optimization plan, GAC Honda will close its fourth production line, which has an annual capacity of 50,000 units, by October 2024. Dongfeng Honda will suspend operations of its second production line, with an annual capacity of 240,000 units, by November 2024. These adjustments will reduce Honda's total annual production capacity in China from 1.49 million units to 1.2 million units.

In parallel, Honda Motor is expediting its electrification efforts in China. A new EV (electric vehicle) plant under Dongfeng Honda is scheduled to start production in September 2024, followed by the operation commencement of a new NEV (new energy vehicle) factory by GAC Honda in November 2024.

烨S7, 烨GT CONCEPT, 烨P7; photo credit: Honda China

Honda Motor has been actively advancing in the EV sector this year. On April 16, Honda unveiled the烨 (yè) Series ("Ye Series"), an all-new EV series specifically introduced to the Chinese market, involving the world premiere of the first set of the Ye Series models, namely 烨 (yè) P7 ("Ye P7") and 烨 (yè) S7 ("Ye S7"), as well as the concept model for the second set of series models, the烨 (yè) GT CONCEPT ("Ye GT CONCEPT").

Honda said it was planning to launch a total of six the Ye Series models in China by 2027.