Honda to close production plant in the Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR: The Philippines unit of Honda Motor Co Ltd will shut down operations, effective from next month. This is no less than a nightmare for hundreds of employees since the ceasing of manufacturing operations will render them jobless. 

The Japanese automaker is struggling to shore up its global automobile operations and decided to shut down its production facility from next month. Automobile sales and after-sale services shall continue through Honda’s local vendor network.

 Honda Motors Sales Division Head and Spokesperson, Louie Soriano said in a brief telephonic conversation that about 287 employees and associates will be affected by the closure of the production plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. 

The Santa Rosa plant was established in 1990 and started its operations some two years after.

Honda Motors is acclaimed to be the third-largest automaker but has seen its profitability decline considerably by more than half in the past two years, led by a series of quality-related issues.

The company emphasized the fact of choosing the Philippines and said, “To meet Honda’s customer needs in the Philippines for reasonably priced and good quality products, Honda considered efficient allocation and distribution of resources”. It also added that production facilities will now focus on Asia and Oceania.

The production facility at the south of the capital Manila was manufacturing the most acclaimed models of Honda City and Honda BR-V, which will now cease from next month.

On the agony and disappointment among the employees of the production unit, Louie Soriano said that their focus is to settle the labor issues on a priority basis. To pacify the workforce he said, “it was a difficult decision to shut down the manufacturing division and all the affected employees shall receive separation packages and compensation, better than what the law has to offer”.

Amidst the dismay that broke out with this news, Honda assured that it will continue providing highly attractive products to its customers in the Philippines and continue contributing to the local society, which has been an ongoing effort for the last 50 years since Honda was established in the Philippines.”

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