Honda Motors Granted 8 Month Import Duty Waiver by Thailand Government

An 8 month waiver on import tariffs on both, machinery and complete built up units was offered to Honda on Nov. 29, 2011 by Industry Minister Mr. Wannarat Charnnukul of Thailand. This will be in effect from October 25th to June 30, 2012. This new waiver will include only imports to break even losses suffered by Honda Motors during the recent floods in Thailand. Further details would be informed to the company by Industrial Economics Department.

Though the flood situation affected a number of auto manufacturers, Honda was the most affected and suffered the most losses as their entire plant operations at Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya had to be shut down. The plant which has an annual capacity of 240,000 units has been shut since October this year, causing the company tremendous loss.

Water drainage operations continue while hundreds of cars lying in the plant premises have been totally damaged. It will take some time before the plant is fully operational. Hence the government's plan to offer the company a waiver from import duty.