By Chieko Tsuneoka


TOKYO--Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said Thursday that he expected the situation at the car maker's plants in China to improve because most employees have already had Covid-19.

"If you look at the situation around the end of the year, more than half the people got infected all at once, it seems, and so around the end of the year it was difficult to secure enough workers. But now the wave has passed and 70% to 80% of the people have already gotten infected, so I think we're going to be on a lot more stable ground from now on," Mr. Mibe told reporters at a reception in Tokyo.

Asked about risks to the supply chain, Mr. Mibe said, "I think they're actually going to ease from now on."

However, he noted that problems persisted with semiconductor supplies, independent of the Covid-19 situation. "Regarding semiconductors, I think the effects are going to remain throughout this year," he said.

Honda produced 94,582 vehicles in China in November, representing nearly 30% of its global total.


Write to Chieko Tsuneoka at chieko.Tsuneoka@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-05-23 0549ET