Honda’s joint venture with China’s state-owned GAC Group made around 900 contract workers, or 7% of its workforce, redundant in late November, becoming the latest Japanese automaker to downsize its operations due to competition with domestic automakers. GAC-Honda promised to compensate workers removed from its assembly plants in the southern city of Guangzhou in keeping with local regulations, after the JV produced roughly 520,000 cars during the first 10 months of this year, 20% fewer than a year ago. Japanese car majors, mainly those selling gasoline and hybrid cars, have faced significant setbacks in China as consumers opt for Chinese-branded battery cars instead. Toyota cut around 1,000 workers at its joint venture with GAC in July, while Mitsubishi announced a retreat from car production in China in late October. [Nikkei]
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