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Honda Delays Plant Opening in Brazil

Honda Motor Co. says it will delay plans to open an assembly plant in Itirapina, Brazil, until the country’s economy stabilizes.
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Honda Motor Co. says it will delay plans to open an assembly plant in Itirapina, Brazil, until the country’s economy stabilizes.

The factory will enable Honda to double its annual capacity in Brazil to 240,000 vehicles. But car production in Brazil plunged to 2.4 million units last year from 3.2 million in 2014, according to industry trade group ANFAVEA.

Honda has invested $250 million in the Itirapina facility so far, according Bloomberg News. But Honda tells the news service it wants to avoid hiring and training workers now because it might be forced to soon lay them off. Analysts expect further contraction of the Brazilian car market in 2016.

The Itirapina factory was scheduled to open by June. Honda’s other Brazilian plant, located in Sumare, continues to run full time on two shifts. Bloomberg says that 19-year-old facility is building about 620 vehicles per day.

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