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Honda Motor Corporation has started building cars in Nigeria by retooling part of its factory that previously made motorcycles.
This was disclosed on Monday by the company’s new chief executive, Takahiro Hachigo.
Hachigo, who was named CEO in June this year, said the company, which began production this month planned to produce 1,000 of its Accord sedans annually at the plant.
He said Honda would boost the production if the local market grows, adding that the plant would service other African countries.
Meanwhile, Hachigo says it has no plans for now to provide financial aid to Takata Corp, the air bag supplier at the centre of a costly global air bag recall.
However, Hachigo said Honda had set aside enough to cover the cost of recalling over 2 million cars with potentially faulty air bag parts made by Takata.
“We have money budgeted for quality-related costs, as we did last year, and we think we can respond within this allocated amount,” Hachigo told reporters.