Honda Motor Co. is considering consolidating production at two factories near Tokyo and could eventually shut down one of them, sources with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday, as the automaker shifts output to overseas bases amid a maturing domestic market.
Production capacity at Honda's Sayama plant will be moved to the newer Yorii plant. Both factories are in Saitama Prefecture.
The Sayama plant, in operation since 1964, produces the Step WGN and Odyssey minivans, while the Yorii plant, which went online in 2013, assembles the Fit subcompact.
Honda has invested heavily in expanding production abroad, beginning construction of a new factory in China last December amid strong demand in the world's biggest car market.
Meanwhile, sales in Japan are in decline as the population shrinks and fewer young people feel the need to purchase cars, leading to excess production capacity at domestic factories.