Honda, the Japanese car manufacturer, announced on Monday (January 5th) that due to a shortage of automotive chips, its three factories in China will resume operations later than originally planned.
This delay affects the factories of GAC Honda Automobile (a joint venture with Chinese car manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group). These factories were initially scheduled to resume production last Friday (2nd), after a five-day pause, but now are expected to restart on January 19th.
The production of gasoline-powered vehicles and other cars will be halted until January 16th.
Dongfeng Honda Automobile (another joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corporation in China) will continue its car production.
Honda also mentioned that it will temporarily pause production at its two factories in Japan on Monday and Tuesday. The suspended factories are the Suzuka plant in Mie Prefecture and the Sayama plant in Saitama Prefecture.
The N-Box minicar manufactured at the Suzuka plant is highly popular in Japan.
Due to a halt in the supply of automotive chips from Dutch semiconductor company Nexperia, car manufacturers are facing a shortage of crucial components. Nexperia, headquartered in the Netherlands but controlled by Chinese holding, is a chip manufacturer. Honda is seeking alternative procurement solutions to maintain stable factory operations.
Some of Honda’s car parts rely on ready-made semiconductors supplied by Nexperia. Many components of this Japanese car manufacturer are entirely dependent on Nexperia’s supply.
Since late October 2025, Honda has been reducing production levels of its main models in North America due to the supply halt by Nexperia.
Honda anticipates that the chip shortage will lead to a decrease of 150 billion Japanese yen (approximately $9.58 billion USD) in operating profits for its North American division in the fiscal year 2025 (ending in March 2026). The impact of reduced production has not yet been accounted for in the company’s profit forecast.