Honda also plans to eventually make hybrids in China, replacing imports from Japan, Chief Executive Officer Takanobu Ito said at the Shanghai auto show today. Honda plans to use batteries, motors and other core parts made by Chinese manufacturers to cut procurement costs, he said.

China's annual vehicle sales jumped about 10-fold in the past decade as rising affluence and government stimulus policies boosted demand, with industrywide vehicle deliveries surging 32 percent in 2010 to 18.1 million light vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Carmakers including Honda, SAIC Motor Corp. and BYD Co. are adding electric vehicles and hybrids amid government plans to promote alternatives to regular gasoline-powered cars.

Honda expects sales target to reach 730,000 units this year and expects deliveries to grow by about 10 percent annually, Ito said.

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Honda's partner in China, said today it would make the electric cars with the Japanese automaker from 2012.

Acura brand
Separately, Honda said sales of its Acura ZDX luxury crossover will begin in China this year. The Tokyo-based carmaker will also add an Acura hybrid model next year, Seiji Kuraishi, Honda's China president, said.

Japan's March 11 earthquake has had a "minor impact" on China operations and sales won't be affected until the end of June, Kuraishi said.

Honda's production outlook after June in Japan is unclear, Ito said today. If the company's domestic operations are affected by power or parts shortages following the temblor, it will take about a month for an impact on production in other countries, he said.

The company resumed limited output at its Japanese car-assembly plants in Saitama and Mie prefectures on April 18 with production initially at 50 percent of normal capacity.

To avoid possible electricity shortages in eastern Japan after the record earthquake and tsunami caused damage to power stations in Japan, the company shifted production of its Fit Shuttle compact wagon to its Suzuka plant in Mie from Saitama.

Honda said yesterday that reduced production levels in North America will continue through May 6.