Honda to increase production in China

Honda Motor plans to raise its annual production capacity in China by 16.7% to 560,000 units by the end of this year, Dow Jones reported. A Honda spokesperson said Thursday that Honda and its joint venture partner Dongfeng Motor plan to upgrade an existing factory in Hubei to produce an additional 80,000 units per year. The plant can currently produce 120,000 cars per year. The additional units will primarily be Honda CRV sport utility vehicles, the spokesman said. Sales of the CRV were up 24.4% in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period last year. Honda’s other  joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group has a production capacity of 360,000 units. Honda plans to expand dealerships for cars produced by both joint ventures from 663 to 730 by the end of the year. Honda’s Acura brand is sold through a separate dealership network in China.