Honda Plans $500 Million Car Plant in Mexico, Financiero Says

Honda Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest automaker, plans to invest at least $500 million to build a car factory in Mexico, El Financiero newspaper reported.

The plant will likely be located in Salamanca, a city in the central state of Guanajuato, and construction would begin next year, El Financiero reported, citing Mexican Economy Ministry officials it didn’t identify by name.

Honda’s press office in Mexico City declined to comment on the report by El Financiero. Nikkei newspaper in Japan said earlier this week that Honda will build an auto plant in Mexico that produces the Fit compact car and will begin operation in 2014.

Honda has a plant in Mexico’s southwestern state of Jalisco, according to its website.

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-02/honda-plans-500-million-car-plant-in-mexico-financiero-says.html

Honda investing $97 million at Lincoln

TALLADEGA COUNTY — Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln is investing $97 million in its facility creating 20 new jobs.

The announcement of the investment came during the County Commission meeting Monday night. The commission approved a tax abatement for HMA for the investment.

Warren Mathews, an attorney from Burr & Foreman, a law firm that represents HMA, presented the request for tax abatement to the commission.

The overall project will consist of new investments that will increase current production capacity and support the transfer of the Acura MDX luxury sport utility vehicle to Alabama in 2013.

According to Mark Morrison, manager of HMA’s Corporate Affairs and Communication, at the conclusion of the project, and combined with the previous project HMA announced in March, HMA’s total capital investment in Lincoln will grow to more than $1.7 billion.

In another matter, Edward Jennings, a longtime resident of Hindman Lane in Talladega, paid another visit to the commission in regards to the immobility he believes the commission has taken with his previous concerns.

Source;
http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/13187827/article-Honda-investing--97-million-at-Lincoln?instance=home_right

Engine plant expansion helping Honda make more products in U.S.

The Honda plant in Anna is the largest Honda auto engine plant in the world, according to the company. The plant recently spent $138 million to expand its production capabilities, and it will now supply steel components for four-cylinder motors made at all of Honda’s North American plants. Those parts used to come primarily from Japan.
Business First of Columbus - by Dan Eaton

Honda spent $138 million to expand its Anna automobile engine plant, but the Shelby County operation won’t be making more engines.

The expansion, which took two years to complete, increases the plant’s steel parts production abilities and makes the 23-year-old plant the North American hub of Honda of America Manufacturing Inc.’s engine operations.

“This has been a major project,” said Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke. “It’s almost the same cost of the new engine plant in Canada.”

The work at Anna has received less public attention than Honda’s other recent North American projects, including the $550 million Greensburg auto plant that is set to open this month in Indiana and the $154 million Alliston engine plant in Ontario. But Anna project leader Jim Hranica said it is equally central to the company’s operations.

Cranking it up

Completion of the expansion is part of a worldwide production reshuffle for the auto maker.

Most manufacturing of four-cylinder motors for Honda’s auto plant in Ontario is moving to an engine plant that opened next door Sept. 15. The Anna plant will take up engine production for Honda’s Greensburg assembly operation and it will continue to make V-6 engines for the Alliston plant.

“We’ve been gearing up to do more V-6 production, but now, with the opening of Greensburg, that is swinging back to four-cylinders,” Hranica said.

The Anna plant, which opened in 1985 to build motorcycle engines, employs 2,750 workers and produces 1.2 million engines a year. The expansion added 100 jobs.

The biggest change is in the manufacture of steel component parts for the four-cylinder motors, which the engine plant will be doing for all of Honda’s North American auto plants. Those parts were mostly imported from Japan.

The Anna plant is increasing and in some cases starting production on cylinder sleeves, crankshafts, camshafts and connecting rods.

“What’s going to end up happening is where we were purchasing parts before, we’ll be able to produce them cheaper here and that’s even without shipping costs,” Hranica said.

For the rest of the article, follow the link;
http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/10/06/story13.html?b=1223265600%5E1710780