Honda trims output at plants, including one in Ontario

Amid a severe slump in global auto sales, Honda is cutting production by an additional 50,000 vehicles at its Japanese and North American plants, including one at Alliston, Ont.

Japan's No. 2 automaker says output in North America will fall by 29,000 units. The cuts affect plants at Alliston and in Ohio and Alabama.

The Ontario plant makes the popular Civic, while the U.S. plants roll out the Accord sedan and Odyssey minivan.

Due to the production cuts, Honda's overall output in North America will drop by 12 per cent to 1.26 million units in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31.

Like other Japanese automakers, Honda is being battered by the plunge in auto demand after the U.S. financial crisis struck last year. It quit Formula One racing in December to focus on making and selling cars, but its plants are being idled to curb production and reduce inventory.

Honda is putting 4,300 contract staff out of work in Japan by the end of April. The company, which employs 185,000 full-time people around the world, did not disclose its full-time work force in North America.