Factories hit by chips shortage

Honda Motor will temporarily shut production at several factories in Japan and China in late December and early January because of disruptions caused by the shortage of semiconductors. 

The company says operations at some domestic plants will be suspended January 5 and 6. In China, all three plants run by its joint venture, Guangqi Honda Automobile, will be taken offline from December 29 to January 2.

When Japanese production resumes on January 7, output will be scaled back for a further three days from originally planned levels.

The latest stoppages suggest supply-chain bottlenecks remain unresolved and follow a temporary halt at Honda plants in Mexico in October and November, also linked to semiconductor shortages.

Those shortages were triggered by a dispute involving China and the Netherlands regarding the oversight of the chipmaker Nexperia, which in turn disrupted supplies to North America.

Honda has already cut its global sales forecast to 3.34 million vehicles from an earlier estimate of 3.62m, reports Bloomberg. In its financial outlook for the year ending March 2026, released in November, the company says reduced output linked to chip shortages would cut operating profit.