Invest News DetailStar - Japanese car maker Honda is looking to increase its exports to North Africa following line upgrades and a model revamp in its Turkish plant with an investment of TRY 75 million (approx. USD 40 million). Manufacturing the new version of the company’s popular Civic sedan in Türkiye, Honda aims to reach a production capacity of 50,000 cars per year in its Kocaeli plant as it struggles to overcome the impact of the natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, as well as the global financial crisis. The company plans to produce 25,000 Civics in its Turkish plant in 2012, a slight increase on the last three years’ average of 18-20,000, but talks with the headquarters in Japan are in progress for a capacity increase, according to Hideto Yamasaki, Honda Türkiye’s General Manager. “The addition of a new model to Honda’s Turkish plant is also on the table,” said Yamasaki at the launch ceremony of the new Civic, noting that exports of the new sedan to Russia, Poland, Israel, Egypt and Jordan were already underway. The North African countries are also expected to be added to the list of countries that Made in Türkiye Civics are shipped to. “Türkiye is one of the key producers of the Civic sedan and the country’s free trade agreements with many North African countries can help a great deal in facilitating our exports to this region,” said Yamasaki.