1000 Flood-Ravaged Honda Cars to be Scrapped in Thailand

28 December 2011 - Thailand said earlier this month that over 700 people died in the floods, which at their height affected 65 of the 77 provinces in the low-lying nation and forced the closure of seven major industrial parks, disrupting global supply chains.

JAPANESE automaker Honda yesterday began destroying more than 1,000 cars in Thailand to reassure customers that no vehicles damaged in the country's recent flood crisis will ever be sold. The scrapping process at Honda's plant in the central province of Ayutthaya is expected to take one month, the company said in a statement.

The plant is located in the Rojana Industrial Park, where heavy flooding in early October brought production to a halt and aerial pictures showed hundreds of new cars submerged in muddy water. 'While we were able to relocate many new cars that were awaiting shipment to a safe area, 1,055 vehicles that remained in the plant were finally damaged by the flood,' said Mr Pitak Pruittisarikorn, executive vice-president of Honda Automobile Thailand. 'We will not sell any of the damaged cars to customers, or sell or reuse any of the parts,' he added.

Honda workers have begun disposing of row upon row of Brio and City subcompacts submerged during the flooding using construction equipment and vehicle crushers to demolish the 1,055 vehicles. The tragic yet oddly beautiful gallery above chronicles the aftermath and resulting destruction.

Source: MSNBC
Image Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit