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1. Quantocosta 21 december 2002 11:11

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   What Honda knew The Japanese automaker is breaking ground on a factory expansion in Guangzhou and on new rules for foreigners in China. It was a rare occurrence: Everyone in the auto industry thought that Honda was nuts. Honda had asked the Chinese government for permission to build an export-only auto factory in China. "Whom are they trying to kid?" asked the leader of a competing foreign auto company in China. It is cheaper to build cars in Japan, Europe or the U.S. than in China, where the high costs of importing sophisticated parts far outweigh the savings from cheap labor. "They must have known something," said Michael Dunne, the president of Automotive Resources Asia. Honda did. Honda (nyse: HMC - news - people ) just won Beijing's permission to build an export-only factory near its existing factory in Southern China, and that is not all. The decision means that Honda just got China to change one of the most hated rules of the game for foreign companies doing business in China. In a stunning shift in Chinese policy, Honda was allowed to own 65% of the factory, not the 50% maximum allowed until now in the auto industry. "China is internationalizing its ownership rules," says Andy Xie, managing director of Morgan Stanley. China's entry into the World Trade Organization compels it to allow foreigners to own majority stakes in some industries it has so far restricted, but not until 2006. However, nothing prevents China from liberalizing the rules faster, and Beijing has told local governments that they can accelerate the WTO's timetables. As a result, Xie expects local governments trying to create jobs by attracting foreign investment to increasingly cut deals like Honda's. "This is the new area of competition between local governments," Xie says. Foreigners can already own majority stakes in factories that make shoes, toys and other non-strategic products. The changes sweeping China will be felt most in industries in which it has limited foreign companies to less than majority stakes: big-money industries, such as autos, banking and telecommunications. Other companies will try to follow Honda's lead. In fact, foreign governments say that they are likely to use the Honda precedent to push China to allow other companies to own controlling stakes. How did Honda manage it? It already has one factory in Guangdong province, where it builds 120,000 Honda Accords and Odyssey minivans for the Chinese market. Honda owns half of the venture, called Guangzhou Honda Automobile Company; Guangzhou Auto Group owns the other half. It also produces engines there in a venture in which Honda owns half; Dongfeng Motor, China's third-largest automaker, owns the rest. Honda wanted to add another factory to build small cars. It probably could have gained permission for the expansion with the usual 50% ownership restriction, but it wanted control. So Honda argued that the 50% limit applied only to companies building cars for the Chinese market; that there were no rules about auto companies building for export. It asked for permission to own 100%. Full ownership didn't fly. Here's what did: Honda owns 65%, its partner Guangzhou Auto owns 25%, and Dongfeng Motor owns 10%. That's progress. "The major reason for us to get the majority for the new project is because of the 100%-export plan," says Masaya Nagai, a spokesman for Honda. Honda and its partners plan to invest $193 million. The new cars are scheduled to roll out of the factory in late 2004 at a clip of 50,000 a year; they'll be shipped to Europe and Southeast Asia. Revolutionary, but does the new venture make any business sense? China may be the factory to the world, but it won't be the world's car factory anytime soon. For instance, GM has a highly advanced factory in Shanghai. But when it started four years ago, building a Buick Century there cost GM 25% more than building the same car in the U.S. No, GM is not paying union wages to workers in communist China. The problem is that although labor is cheap, nearly everything else costs more. High-quality steel and high-tech components, for instance, must be imported at high duties. Power is more expensive. Labor is indeed cheaper: It accounts for 20% of the cost of building cars in the U.S.; just 10% in China. There has been progress: As China has modernized, it now costs GM only 10% more to produce a car there than in the U.S. In another five years, the costs of building in China should be even with those in the U.S. and Europe. Costs are one reason auto company executives aren't rushing to export from China. The other is that those with factories in China can't keep up with the exploding domestic market--up 49% in 2002, to 1.2 million cars--and likely won't have any extra for export. "I don't see China being a huge export platform because of the growth of the domestic market," says Philip Murtaugh, the CEO of GM China. "The market is growing so fast." Maybe Honda is being sneaky. If the Chinese market grows and once production is up and running in a few years, Honda might argue that it needs to sell the new plant's Hondas that are destined for export inside China instead. It could be gambling that by then China's rules will have relaxed enough to allow that. In the early 1990s computer makers used this model: They planned to export models made in China but wound up selling them in China. FMillion milestone Honda will export, but sales are racing ahead in China.
2. [verwijderd] 21 december 2002 11:22

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   Morge Peter, ze zijn leuk bezig die Japanners... Prettig weekend, Henk
3. Quantocosta 21 december 2002 11:40

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   nieuwe Fit volgend jaar / model 2004 ..... de lijn Hamamatsu-Guangzhou/Dongfeng is interessant!! Honda to double output (GONG ZHENGZHENG) 12/20/2002 GUANGZHOU: Japan's Honda Motor Co plans to double its vehicle output in China next year as an important part of its global expansion strategy. Guangzhou Honda, the company's joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group, said yesterday that it will produce and sell 110,000 vehicles next year - up from the expected 59,000 units this year. It follows Honda's announcement on Wednesday in Japan that it will increase its global output to 3.1 million units next year from a record high of 2.82 million this year. Zeng Qinghong, executive vice-president of Guangzhou Honda, said the joint venture produced 56,495 vehicles during the first 11 months of this year, including 44,858 Accord sedans and 11,637 Odyssey multi-purpose vehicles. "We plan to launch ***two new models next year to achieve our target," Zeng said. The joint venture will introduce a ***new US-developed Accord sedan next month, he said. The new Accord will be equipped with the 2.4-litre engine, he said. According to Kadowaki Koji, president of Guangzhou Honda, the joint venture will also launch a ##***Fit small-sized notchback car in the middle of next year. The joint venture stopped production of its existing 2.0, 2.3 and 3.0-litre Accord sedans earlier this month in preparation for the introduction of the two new models next year, Koji said. But the company did not reveal the price tags. Guangzhou Honda will cut the price of the Odyssey from 298,000 yuan (US$35,900) to 268,000-278,000 yuan (US$32,410-33,490) next week to attract more consumers. Zeng said the joint venture will add an investment of 1.28 billion yuan (US$154.2 million) next year in introducing the new models and enhancing its production capacity. Guangzhou Honda plans to increase its annual capacity to 240,000 units by 2004 from the 120,000 units expected at the beginning of next year, he said. According to Koji, the ***Fit will share the majority of spare parts, including engines, with the small cars to be produced in 2004 at Honda's other joint venture in Guangzhou to cut costs. The newly launched joint venture - in which Honda, the Guangzhou auto group and Dongfeng Motor Corp control 65, 25 and 10 per cent stakes respectively - will initially produce 50,000 small cars each year. All of its cars will be exported. Zeng said Guangzhou Honda will continue to improve its sales and service networks. It will increase the number of its franchised sales and service stores across China to 200 next year from 140 at present, he said. Guangzhou Honda appears very optimistic about the Chinese car market because of the nation's rapid economic growth. It predicted that sales of domestically made cars will exceed 1.4 million units next year - up from 1.15 million this year. According to Zeng, annual demand for cars in China will reach around 2.5 million units by 2005.
4. [verwijderd] 21 december 2002 12:56

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   Vrienden, Mijn Engels is zeeeer slecht, helaas. Wat heeft dit bericht met Antonov te maken? Wil iemand dit in het Nederlands toelichten, bij voorbaat dank. Hans D
5. Quantocosta 21 december 2002 14:01

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   www.clubs.nl/community/default.asp?cl... hier vind je veel info in het Nederlands. succes!