Boon Siew Honda, a joint-venture operation with Malaysian conglomerate Oriental Holdings, has completed construction of a huge motorcycle manufacturing plant at Penang in northern Malaysia. This project, set in a 23.7-hectare site, cost £47m to build and is five times larger than the company’s previous facility in nearby Butterworth. It employs 1100 staff and has an annual production capacity of 300,000 units.
As an indicator of its importance to the brand’s Asia Pacific bike market domination, the official opening ceremony on 12 March was attended by Honda’s global president and chief executive Takanobu Ito. Other dignitaries present included Malaysian government minister of international trade and industry Mustapa bin Mohamed, Oriental Holdings and Boon Siew Honda chairman Loh Cheng Yean, and Boon Siew Honda managing director Satoshi Okada.
Production at the new factory, in which Honda has a 51 per cent stake, began in February.