Honda Vietnam eyes imports as snapped supply chains hit production

Its production is set to fall by 30 percent from last year due to difficulties in sourcing parts from Malaysia and India, where suppliers had to shut down plants, the company said in a recent report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Motorbike production is set to fall by 43 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, it said.

Since the impact of the pandemic could last years, the company is considering importing more cars to meet demand.

Honda and other car manufacturers such as Toyota and Ford had to close their factories and dealerships for the first two weeks of April to comply with the government’s social distancing orders.

Car production fell 23.8 percent year-on-year in the first four months to 61,400 units, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Honda, which has the third highest auto sales in Vietnam, saw first quarter sales plummet by 39 percent year-on-year to 5,290 units, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

Other top brands also saw double-digit drops as overall sales dropped to a five-year low of 52,500, VAMA said.

Last year car production had risen by 9.6 percent to 363,800 units, according to the industry ministry.