HondaJet is ready to boost production numbers of its business jet following strong demand.
Honda plans to triple production to six planes a month and produce the HondaJet in volumes of around 70 per year as early as 2018.
The global market for small business jets like Honda’s currently supports 200 planes a year, but annual demand is expected to grow to some 300-400 planes over the next four years.
Current production is around two aircraft per month, and Honda believes it can boost production to six aircraft, and the Honda’s goal is to sell around 70 HondaJets a year in 2018-2019.
Honda believe they achieve this without any additional equipment or expansion of the workforce by introducing a networked system to manage the supply of parts and the thousands of steps involved in assembly.
With such a system in place, Honda will be able to boost output and shorten delivery times to just three to four months, compared with the more than two years customers now must wait after placing an order.
The company based completed aircraft development at the end of 2015 and immediately began accepting orders and assembling the $4.5 million aircraft at its plant in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
