Production began on March 8 at the new Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (CHAM) plant in Nanhai Industrial Park District, Foshan City. The company is wholly owned by Honda.
CHAM will manufacture powertrain components including automobile transmissions, which will be supplied to Honda's automobile production joint venture operations in China. With the annual production capacity of 240,000 units (transmissions), the new plant will initially accommodate machining and assembly of transmissions and drive shafts as well as machining of crankshafts and connecting rods for engines. The company is planning later to add the machining of gears as well as production of control parts, both key high value transmission components currently supplied from Japan.
Honda said that as the first automaker to begin local production of transmissions in China, its competitiveness will increase. The company pointed out that local production of transmissions plays as important a role in the effort to increase local content as local production of finished automobiles and engines.
In China, Honda manufactures automobiles with three joint venture companies: Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., and Honda Automobile (China) Co., Ltd. which manufactures automobiles for export. The combined annual production capacity has now reached 530,000 units -- 360,000 units at Guangzhou Honda; 120,000 units at Dongfeng Honda; and 50,000 units at Honda Automobile (China).
CHAM is Honda's fourth integrated automatic transmission production plant in the world following operations in Ohio, Georgia and in the country of Indonesia.
