2011 was quite the year for Asian automakers - first the earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan, and then the devastating flooding in Thailand. And just as Honda began to resume production to bring cars and vehicle parts to consumers around the world after the tsunami, typhoon season began in Southeast Asia and dumped record amounts of rain on the continent.

As of the beginning of October, Honda halted production at their Ayutthaya plant in Thailand. By the end of December, production had resumed, but Honda was left to deal with the 1,055 units damaged by the floodwaters. To assure customers that these vehicles would not be repaired and sent to showrooms, Honda began to publicly destroy the entire lot of subcompacts and eco-cars.

The plant, located in Ayutthaya Province, produces about 170,000 vehicles a year, include the Civic and the Accord. None of these vehicles were ever bound for North American markets, and Honda Thailand Executive Vice President wants to reassure customers that the company "will not sell any of the damaged cars to customers, or sell or reuse any of the parts."¹ Reports indicate that the scrapping of all of these vehicles could take as long as a month.

Meanwhile, over seven major industrial parks have been forced to close down since the flooding began, and over 65 of Thailand's 77 provinces were affected by the flooding. The waters have receded, but clean-up and recovery have only just begun.

That said, Apple Honda is keeping the people of Thailand and Japan in our thoughts as they continue to recover from the devastating disasters of 2011. Be sure to stay tuned with us for more news and updates from Honda. Contact us via our website or stop in and see us at 1375 Route 58 Riverhead, NY 11901 to learn more.

Source:¹http://news.yahoo.com/honda-scraps-1-000-flood-ravaged-cars-thailand-141620638.html