Company type | Joint venture |
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Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 7 May 1998Guangzhou) | (
Headquarters | , |
Area served | China |
Products | Automobiles |
Owners |
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Number of employees | Approximately 7,000 |
Subsidiaries | Guangzhou Honda Automobile Research & Development Co., Ltd. Guangzhou Honda Research & Development Co., Ltd |
Website |
www |
GAC Honda | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 廣汽本田 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 广汽本田 | ||||||
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GAC Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese automobile manufacturing joint venture company [1] based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. [2]
Co-owned by Honda and GAC Group (Guangqi), [3] GAC Honda operates two plants that, as of 2011 [update], produces Honda-branded models and one car sold under the China-only Everus brand. [1] GAC Honda's products incorporate Japanese-made parts. [4]
Originally named Guangzhou Honda, this was changed to GAC Honda in 2009. [5] As of 2011 [update], the company boasts a per year production capacity of 480,000. [6]
Seeking to replace the loss-making [7] of the Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company for a joint venture with another foreign car-maker, the government of Guangzhou established Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co Ltd with Honda, which beat out a number of rivals for the privilege, [8] in May [8] or July [1] of 1998. GAC Honda launched its first model, an American version Accord in March 1999 along with its first 4S shop. [7]
Making a product that the Chinese consumer had familiarity with through high quality imports as well as a pre-existing sales and service network for these cars may have contributed to the early success of GAC Honda. [7] A recently failed joint venture between the Guangzhou Government and Peugeot ( Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company) also helped to prepare the ground.[ citation needed]
Beginning in 2009, GAC Honda has distributed automobiles by ship—reducing secondary transport distances and transport losses while also being environmentally responsible. [9] The company also uses rail and road transport. [9]
Everus (Li Nian Chinese: 理念), GAC Honda's first China-only brand, is targeted at consumers in inland cities like Chaozhou and Lanzhou who can't afford its Honda-branded vehicles but desire the cachet and technological underpinnings foreign-tied brands offer. [10] While it was the first China-only brand for any sino-foreign joint venture [11] other, similar marques do exist such as the Dongfeng/Nissan Venucia.
The first Everus model, the S1 subcompact, was unveiled at the 2010 Guangzhou Auto Show. [12] The S1 is based on an old model of the Honda City. [12]
GAC Honda ranked highest in customer satisfaction with authorized dealer after-sales service according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2009 China Customer Service Index Study. [13]