Honda to cut Civic UK output

Source: Reuters

Date :28/10/2008 07:33:16

Honda Motor , Japan's second-largest carmaker, said on Tuesday it would cut output of its Civic compact in the U.K. from December to meet falling demand in Europe.

The Tokyo-based carmaker will cut U.K. production of the three- and five-door models of the Civic by 22,000 units, or about 10 percent from the 228,000 units it had planned to roll out from its U.K. plants in the year to next March.

Honda will not scale back production of the four-door Civic shipped to the emerging Russian market.

Earlier this month, the company hammered out a plan to reduce U.S. production of its Odyssey minivan and Pilot SUV by 22,000 units between November and March.

Honda shares rose 4.1 percent to 1,886 yen, outperforming the Topix subindex for the auto sector, which rose 0.8 percent, ahead of the company's interim earnings announcement on Tuesday.

Overnight, German carmaker Daimler AG said it would stop production at two big German plants for four weeks around the year-end, doubling the normal holiday break amid a sharp drop in demand.

(Reporting by Yumiko Nishitani; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

TOKYO (Reuters)