Chinese-Made Honda Exported to Canada

choi

Nick Buckley and Ian Austen, In canada, a Car Built in China; A strong yem pushes Honda to cross a significant threshold. New York Times, Dec 21, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/2 ... ref=hondamotorcoltd

Quote:

"The cars, in fact, are not even from the myriad Chinese automakers whose North American ambitions have been stymied by inferior quality and sometimes laughably poor performances in crash tests.

"Only 3 percent, or 580,000, of the vehicles built in China last year were exported. Many automakers are reluctant to use that capacity to supply other countries because they want to maximize sales in China, now the world’s largest car market.

"Lower disposable incomes and higher gasoline prices in Canada mean that small cars like the Fit are more popular there than in the United States.

"Honda’s profit on the Fit is further squeezed by a 6.1 percent import duty, while many competing models enter Canada duty-free because they are made in Mexico or the United States [thanks to NAFTA]. Honda is building a plant in Mexico that is scheduled to start assembling the Fit for the United States and other countries in early 2014. Honda is likely to use that plant to supply Canada as well, most likely making the importing from China a temporary measure.

"Honda has been exporting the Fit from China to 27 countries, mainly in Europe where it is sold as the Jazz, for about five years, so there is no concern in Canada about the quality of its production, Mr [Jerry] Chenkin[, executive vice president of Honda Canada] said.

My comment: The report does not say where in China Fit is made.