Expansion Plans From Honda; Insight Discontinued

[Perian]

Source: Bloomberg News New York

Honda is in development of a four cylinder diesel engine. It will be introduced in the United States within three years. It will be saleable in all 50 states.

Honda will end production of the hybrid model Insight in July of this year due to lack of demand.

[Perian]

Source: Bloomberg Radio - Automotive News

According to Bloomberg News, Honda will discontinue the Insight model in July due to lack of demand, and will build new plants in U.S. and Canada. The automaker is spending $665 million on growth; has a new hybrid car and diesel engine coming. Site selection for U.S. plant in final stages

DETROIT -- Honda Motor Co. will spend $665 million over the next two years to build a new auto assembly plant and expand engine and transmission production in the United States, and a new engine plant in Canada.

The new assembly plant will boost North American production capacity to 1.6 million units a year in 2008, Honda said. Currently, its annual North American production capacity stands at 1.4 million units.

The Japanese automaker also said it will introduce a new, dedicated hybrid car that will be cheaper than the current Civic Hybrid and have a sales target of 100,000 units a year in North America. Honda also plans to develop a new, four-cylinder diesel engine that will be sold in the U.S. and Canadian markets. The new diesel is based on a diesel engine Honda now sells in Europe.

Honda also has set a goal to boost the corporate average fuel economy rating of its fleet by 5 percent from 29.2 mpg rating in 2005 within the next four years.

The North America expansion plans are part of Honda’s bid to reach goals set out in its “2010 Vision” long-term plan, which was launched in 1998. Information on Honda’s global expansion plans was announced Wednesday morning in Japan.

Honda said the new U.S. auto plant will begin building vehicles in 2008. The auto factory, Honda’s sixth in North America, will have annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles and employ about 1,500 people.

Honda said it will spend $400 million to build the plant. But it did not say where the plant will be located or what it will produce. The automaker said its site search was in “the final stages.” The plant’s location and product will be announced later.

There is no mystery about the site of the new engine plant in Canada. Honda said the plant will be built next to its vehicle assembly plant in Alliston, Ontario. The engine plant will cost about $140 million and is set to begin building four-cylinder engines in 2008. It will have 340 employees and a capacity of 200,000 engines a year.

To supply the new auto plant with engines, and provide parts to the new Canadian engine plant, Honda will spend $75 million to expand its engine plant in Anna, Ohio. The expansion, which adds 40 jobs, will enable the Anna plant to produce engine parts that are now imported from Japan.

Honda is also spending $80 million and hiring 40 new workers for its parts plant in Tallapoosa, Ga. The plant will add the ability to cast and machine transmission cases.

New, cheaper hybrid on the way

Honda’s plant in Suzuka, Japan, will build a new, dedicated hybrid powertrain vehicle, beginning in 2009. The hybrid will play a key part in Honda’s quest to boost its fleet fuel economy average by 5 percent by 2010.

The Suzuka plant will have the capacity to build 200,000 hybrids a year. Honda said 100,000 of them will be earmarked for North America.

The new hybrid will have a price “significantly lower” than the Civic Hybrid, Honda said. The 2006 Civic Hybrid has a base price of $22,700, including shipping charges.

Honda officials said the new hybrid will be sold only under the Honda brand and not be shared with the Acura luxury brand.

Honda said it also plants to introduce a new version of its i-VTEC variable valve timing technology and a more advanced version of its VCM cylinder deactivation technology for six-cylinder engines to help meet its goal of increasing fleet fuel economy.

[Quickening]

DIESEL

Wake up GM

[FunkyPig]

I agree strongly.... GM, why not lead instead of follow FOR ONCE!!

[dindak]

GM just needs to build (or even import from GM Europe) one high volume diesel engine to make an impact with little investment. How about adding the option to the new Malibu next year?? I'd consider it if it wasn't too noisy.

[Bravada]

Honda already has a four-cylinder state-of-the-art diesel, though only one and too big to fit in a Fit - 2.2



If this proves true, it will be terribly ironic - Honda, the late one of latecomers, comes as first in the US. I hope Ford and GM will counterstrike with their PSA and Fiat-sourced diesels, respectively.

[camaro_freak]

Originally Posted by FunkyPig

I agree strongly.... GM, why not lead instead of follow FOR ONCE!!

Planning for the future and having a vision of where the company should be going is something the domestics either forgot about or didn't give enough attention and it is obviously showing.

[01cavalier]

Honda finally gets to bringing a diesel to the States, but it wasn't that long ago when Honda didn't even have a diesel engine. Smart move though, and GM better get going on diesels for their cars.

[Bravada]

How about adding the option to the new Malibu next year??

Bob Lutz said he wanted to put a Fiat-GM diesel in a Malibu, but it won't fit, thanks to GM's great "local engineering". But, like I said in another thread, if the diesel-latecomer Honda manages to come first in the US, GM should truly be ashamed of themselves.

[SuperSS27]

Originally Posted by Bravada

Honda already has a four-cylinder state-of-the-art diesel, though only one and too big to fit in a Fit - 2.2



If this proves true, it will be terribly ironic - Honda, the late one of latecomers, comes as first in the US. I hope Ford and GM will counterstrike with their PSA and Fiat-sourced diesels, respectively.

What do you mean first in the US? VW has been doing desiels for a long time here.

[Perian]

NOTE: This became a larger and more important story:

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Expansion Plans From Honda; Insight Discontinued

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[MNdudeswitz]

Smart choice Honda, way not to get caught up in all the Toyota Hybrid crap!

[Bravada]

What do you mean first in the US? VW has been doing desiels for a long time here.

So did Mercedes, but I meant two things:
- first like sooner than GM and Ford, sooner than mainstream competition
- I think VW still imports the diesels from Europe, Honda is going to build them in America

Anyway, GM would miss the boat again in being first to capitalize on a trend.

[SuperSS27]

Originally Posted by Bravada

So did Mercedes, but I meant two things:
- first like sooner than GM and Ford, sooner than mainstream competition
- I think VW still imports the diesels from Europe, Honda is going to build them in America

Anyway, GM would miss the boat again in being first to capitalize on a trend.

Gotcha, but it may not be just a trend. It may be a way of life soon with the way gas prices are going. Desiels may come close to outnumbering gasoline in the way of gas mileage targeted cars.

[Stéphane Dumas]

Originally Posted by MNdudeswitz

Smart choice Honda, way not to get caught up in all the Toyota Hybrid crap!

speaking of hybrids, I wonder how the big hybrids "H" fans will react to this news? They might fell, sort of, betrayed