Honda’s Japan car output to return to normal capacity in December

TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co said on Thursday its Japanese car factories will return to normal operations in December, after working at around 90% capacity this month due to a shortage of chips and supply disruptions from COVID-19 lockdowns overseas.

The two domestic production sites will return to normal capacity in the first half of December, Honda said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the maker of the Fit and CR-V models cut its full-year profit forecast for the second time, citing production delays and rising materials costs.

Top Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp had also said last week it would start making up for lost production in December, with factories at home returning to normal for the first time in seven months.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; editing by Uttaresh.V)