Honda launches output at 4th China plant

Honda Motor Co. launched output at its fourth Chinese assembly plant on Tuesday, lifting the Japanese automaker's capacity in China to 870,000 vehicles a year.The plant, located in the central China city of Wuhan, is also the second plant of Dongfeng Honda Motor Co., Honda's joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor Corp.The plant's annual production capacity, initially set at 100,000 vehicles, will increase to 120,000 vehicles in 2012, according to Honda.Dongfeng Honda's first plant, which is also based in Wuhan, can produce 240,000 vehicles a year.Honda has a second Chinese joint venture known as Guangqi Honda Motor Co.Guangqi Honda, a joint venture between Honda and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., is building its third plant in the south China province of Guangdong.Dongfeng Honda builds the Accord, City, Fit, Jazz and Odyssey models while Guangqi Honda produces the CR-V, Civic and Spirior models.In the first five months of this year, Honda's China sales totaled 255,685 units, up 6 percent year-on-year, according to LMC Automotive.