Yahoo Finance Honda Canada to upgrade Ontario plant with help from Feds, province
Honda Canada will spend $1.38 billion to upgrade its Alliston, Ont. plant to produce hybrid vehicles, a portion of which will be subsidized by the federal and provincial governments.
The company announced on Wednesday that it will spend $1.38 billion over six years to upgrade its manufacturing facility to produce the 2023 CR-V hybrid crossover. The Alliston plant will become the lead plant for the hybrid model and help further Honda's goal of making battery electric vehicles represent 100 per cent of its North American sales by 2040.
Honda says the investment will go towards retooling the two production lines at the plant, as well as job training initiatives and research and development programs aimed at reducing environmental impacts of vehicle production.
"By modernizing our plants for the future, we are protecting thousands of high-quality, well paying Canadian jobs for years to come," Honda Canada president Jean Marc Leclerc said at a press conference in Alliston on Wednesday.
"This is an important step in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions today, and advancing Honda's global ambitions of realizing carbon neutrality for our entire business."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford were on hand in Alliston for the Honda announcement. Each government is pitching in $131.6 million towards the plant upgrade.
"As we build a cleaner future, the automotive sector is a key partner in powering the way forward. Our auto workers have the expertise and skills to build low-emission vehicles and we're here to support them," Trudeau said.
The Honda plant upgrade marks the latest electric vehicle investment seen in the Canadian automotive industry.
General Motors and South Korea's Posco Chemical announced earlier this month that the companies will invest $400 million to build a new facility in Quebec to produce cathode active materials to power GM's electric vehicles.
Ford says it will invest $1.8 billion to retool its Oakville assembly plant to build battery electric vehicles. Fiat Chrysler Automotive has also committed to spending between $1.35 billion and $1.5 billion upgrading its Windsor assembly plant to produce electric vehicles.
"While all Ontarians are rightly proud of our automotive industry, we should be even more excited by what the future holds," Ford said on Wednesday.
The Honda plant has the capacity to produce more than 400,000 vehicles and 190,000 engines annually. The company has invested more than $6.5 billion into its Canadian facilities since 1986, when Honda became the first Japanese automaker to build a plant in Canada.
Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.
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