Japan’s Honda has extended the production pause at three car plants in China that it operates with Guangzhou Automobile Group. The sites had been slated to restart on January 5, but a shortage of microchips has pushed the return to January 19, a company representative said.

The setback signals that pressure on automotive supply chains still lingers, even as the broader components market looks steadier. It follows delays in chip deliveries at Nexperia, the Dutch subsidiary of China’s Wingtech, which led some carmakers to trim output in recent months. Honda, however, did not directly link its decision to Nexperia. The timing serves as a quiet reminder: even modest slippages in chip flows can unsettle production plans.