Honda will spend $3 billion on a car factory near its existing central Ohio plants that it says will employ more than 2,000 people and build up to 240,000 vehicles a year once production starts in 2029. The company announced the plant on Monday, Nov. 9, along with upgrades at plants in Ohio, Alabama and Georgia aimed at building more hybrids.
The site is the land between Honda's auto plants in East Liberty and Marysville, and the factory will be the company's fourth auto plant in Ohio and its ninth auto-related production site in the U.S. Final government approvals are still pending. With the plant, Honda's U.S. production capacity would reach about 1.3 million vehicles a year.
Why hybrids
Honda says the plant can build hybrid, gasoline and battery-electric models, but its announcement is mostly about hybrids. The company sold a record 32,519 hybrids in the U.S. in October, up 5.1% from a year earlier, and hybrids made up 53% of CR-V sales that month, it reported on Nov. 3.
In May, Honda said it planned 15 new Honda and Acura hybrid models worldwide by 2030, with North America as the main market for many of them.
What changes at the other plants
| Plant | State | Planned change |
|---|---|---|
| New auto plant | Ohio | $3 billion, 2,000+ jobs, 240,000 vehicles a year from 2029 |
| Anna Engine Plant | Ohio | Retooled line for a next-generation 4-cylinder engine |
| Transmission plant | Ohio | Hybrid system capacity up 250% |
| Alabama Auto Plant | Alabama | New V6 hybrid engine, and Passport production added to Line 1 |
| Transmission plant | Georgia | New line for hybrid systems for larger vehicles |
Only the new plant came with a price. Honda did not say what the other upgrades will cost or how many jobs they add.
"Honda's leadership could have chosen to build this plant anywhere in the world, but they chose Ohio because there are so many advantages to being here," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in the company's release.
