Summary
- Plant will be able to produce 240,000 vehicles annually
- Production at new facility slated to begin in 2029a
- Company also plans investments in Canada, Georgia and Alabama
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Japanese automaker Honda Motor will build a new $3 billion auto plant in central Ohio to make hybrid vehicles, creating 2,000 jobs, it said on Monday.
The company said the plant will be able to produce 240,000 vehicles annually and begin production in 2029. It will increase its US auto production capacity to 1.3 million vehicles annually, and North American capacity to 1.9 million.
Honda is also making a C$867 million ($613.6 million) commitment to its Canadian operations, including a C$166 million investment in its Alliston, Ontario, operations, maintaining its 4,000-strong Canadian workforce.
The Canadian government said it is investing C$313 million in the Alliston project.
Honda plans another $338 million investment in Ohio, and unspecified new investments in Georgia and Alabama.
The company announced plans in May to add 15 new Honda and Acura hybrid models worldwide by 2030. It also announced it would scrap electric vehicle sales goals, and indefinitely suspended an $11 billion Canada EV project as part of a $9 billion EV writedown.
Honda said it will invest in Alabama to build a new V6 hybrid engine, and retool its Ohio engine plant to build a new four-cylinder engine. It will also retool transmission plants in Ohio and Georgia, and plans to reintroduce engine production in Ontario.
AUTOMAKERS FACING US TARIFFS
A number of foreign automakers have announced major new investments as they face tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Last month, Volkswagen luxury unit Audi said it would build a $4 billion assembly plant near Macon, Georgia to open in the early 2030s that would produce 200,000 SUVs annually and employ 4,500 workers.
Reuters reported last month that Trump’s administration had promised tariff relief to Audi to help secure the plant’s future. US officials told Audi executives the government plans to offer broad relief from tariffs for automakers making significant investments in US production.
In July, Toyota Motor said it would spend $3.6 billion to build a 2.5-million-square-foot (232,000-square-metre) truck assembly line on its San Antonio, Texas manufacturing campus and shift some truck production to the US from Mexico.
The Japanese automaker said the expansion would be completed by 2030, creating 2,000 jobs.
($1 = 1.4129 Canadian dollars)
