Honda to focus on hybrids, drop minivehicle plant - Nikkei

July 15 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co (7267.T) will drop plans to build a minivehicle factory and focus on its green vehicles business, the Nikkei business daily said.

As demand for hybrids grow in Japan and North America, Honda will resume construction of a hybrid plant in Saitama Prefecture, which will serve as the main base for Honda's green-technology, the paper said without naming sources.

Products will roll out in 2013, but the company is yet to decide on the models to make, the paper said.

The plant was initially scheduled to start operating this spring, but a sharp fall in sales forced Honda to shelve it, Nikkei said.

It also said the automaker will review its strategy on minivehicles, with a market limited to Japan.

Honda, which had earmarked about 50 billion yen to build a minivehicle plant in Mie Prefecture, has decided to drop it, Nikkei said. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)