Honda to build auto manufacturing plant in Indiana

Honda announced plans to open a new US $550 million automobile plant near Greensburg, Indiana, in the fall of 2008.
The new facility, which will be built on a 1,700-acre tract approximately 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis, will produce 4-cylinder vehicles, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles and employment of 2,000 workers.
The Indiana plant will use Honda’s New Manufacturing System the same as is found in the company’s other auto plants in the U.S. and Canada which allows for production of different vehicle models. The major processes to be performed at the new facility will include stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding and assembly.
“The state of Indianais an ideal location in the Midwest both for our network of parts suppliers and as a central location for all of our customers across the country,” Koichi Kondo, president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc., and CEO of Honda’s North America region operations, said.
The Indiana facility, which will be Honda’s sixth auto plant and 14th major plant overall in North America, will increase the company’s total North American auto production capability from 1.4 million units to 1.6 million units, its employment in North America to more than 37,000 and its North American capital investment to more than US $9 billion.
Construction of the new facility will begin in fall 2006.