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Honda's Kumamoto Factory Remains Closed

One of Honda's main factories, the one in Kumamoto, will remain closed for at least one more week. The plant was shut down three days ago after two earthquakes hit the region, causing dozens of deaths and many more people missing and injured.
Honda Goldwing, one of the models producet at Kumamoto 1 photo
Photo: Honda
Honda closed the manufacturing facility for safety reasons. The Kumamoto region was hit by two earthquakes last week, a 6.5 and a 7.3 one, commanding a safety check-up of the entire factory. The inspections were meant to assess the structural integrity of the factory and to find out if there were any hazards to put the workers at risk.

The Japanese manufacturer initially declared that, if everything was alright, the factory would reopen this Friday. Unfortunately, the inspections found out that the Kumamoto plant sustained damage and was in need of repairs.

After analyzing the situation, Honda said that the closure should be extended until April 28. Even so, Honda has not laid out a precise course of action after this date, as changes could still appear as the repairs are carried on.

It looks like the rest of the Honda facilities will resume production as scheduled initially, tomorrow, albeit one of their subsidiary, Yachiyo Industry Co., Ltd., will operate with certain limitations.

Honda has not provided any information on the status of its parts suppliers, but if no bad news arrived on corporate channels, we could expect these companies to be okay.

The Kumamoto factory is the place where some of Honda's top machines are being manufactured, most of them being sold in the developed international markets. The list includes the CBR1000RR Fireblade, GL1800 Goldwing, VFR1200G, NC750X, CRF250X, and the Silver Wing scooter.

"Honda has decided to extend the halting of production operations at its Kumamoto Factory (Ozu-machi, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture) due to The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake (from its previously announced date of April 22) until April 28, in view of the extent of facility damage.

"Production plans after April 28 will be determined according to progress in repairing the factory and component supply. Regarding other production facilities, Yachiyo Industry Co., Ltd., our subsidiary company producing mini-vehicles for Honda, will be resuming limited production from April 22. Other production facilities plan to operate normally. Gathering all strength of Honda, we are taking every step possible to resume operation at the affected factory as soon as possible,
" official Honda sources said.
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