Honda is adding Saturday overtime shifts to its plants in Lincoln, Alabama and East Liberty, Ohio due to slight 'upticks' in sales, spokesman Ed Miller told Automotive News.
Lincoln will get three Saturday shifts in October and November, while East Liberty gets an unspecified amount of Saturday workdays beginning next month until the end of 2009.
In the last couple of months, we've noticed these upticks in sales of certain models, so we felt we had to adjust upward," Miller said.
Currently, East Liberty is producing below its 950-unit daily CR-V and Element capacity. At the start of this month, the automaker had a 51 day supply of Elements in the U.S. and a 38-day supply of U.S. CR-Vs. The optimal amount, according to industry analysts, is around 60 days.
Around 900 Odysseys, Ridgelines, Pilots, and Accord V-6s roll off assembly lines in Lincoln. At the first of the month, Honda had a 110-day inventory of Ridgelines, 56 days for Accord, 53 days for Pilot, and 42 days for Odyssey.
The added Saturday shifts at East Liberty were primarily to boost CR-V production amounts, Miller noted. No further mention of what other models Honda is increasing capacity was mentioned.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)