Honda Freed production line to be expanded

Japan-based carmaker PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) plans to expand its local production capacity from 50,000 units annually to 60,000 to fulfil its plans to export its newly released Honda Freed.

HPM marketing and after sales service director Jonfis Fandy said Friday this expansion in capacity was urgent as demand for the Honda Freed had so far reached 5,000 units by the end of this month, forcing the company to cut production of the Honda Jazz and the CR-V.

As a result, he said, consumers had to wait for three months to get their Honda Freeds.

Sales of Honda Freeds are expected to exceed 4,000 units this month, he said. However this was still 20 percent under current monthly demand, hence the delays in meeting customer’s orders.

“We increased production capacity of the Freed by 50 percent to 1,500 units a month in July by sacrificing the production levels of the CR-V and Jazz,” Jonfis said.

“So, we have decreased the production levels of these two models on purpose. It’s not true that Jazz and CR-V sales have weakened.”