Last month the Honda Civic was the third best-selling car in the U.S., but due to the devastating earthquake in Japan in March, sales are expected to fall. Although some may expect sales to decline due to the redesigned and somewhat unexciting 2012 model, sales are actually going to decline due to production limitations. Through this fall, production of the Honda Civic is expected to only be at 50 percent.
Honda recently stated that production at its North American plants will not reach full production until August, but Civic production will take even longer to return to normal. The Honda Civic is built at Honda’s plants in Greensburg, Indiana, and Alliston, Ontario. Honda doesn’t expect production to return to full capacity until sometime this fall.
Honda spokesman Ed Miller said, “It’s important to remember that it is our newest vehicle so there are many, many more new and redesigned parts in a car that’s all new compared with a vehicle that doesn’t change much from one model year to the next.”
It’s expected that the Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Chevy Cruze will benefit from Honda’s production struggles. Honda has also delayed the 2012 CR-V
Full Story: Reuters
