From Kyodo News
NEW YORK — Honda Motor Co. plans to invest about $100 million in a new plant in Georgia to produce automatic transmissions for four-wheel vehicles from late 2006, sources said Tuesday.
The Japanese carmaker also plans to increase automotive parts production capacity at its Ohio and Alabama plants as its annual vehicle production capacity in North America is scheduled to expand by 150,000 units to 1.4 million in 2005, they said.
Investment in the Georgia, Ohio and Alabama plants may total $270 million, they said.
The planned plant in Georgia is expected to produce some 300,000 automatic transmissions annually, mainly for sport-utility vehicles assembled at Honda’s Ohio plant.
An industry analyst noted Japanese carmakers have been faring well in the U.S. while their American rivals such as General Motors Corp. have been struggling.
Among other Japanese carmakers, Toyota Motor Corp. is reportedly considering building a new vehicle assembly plant in North America.
Copyright 2004 Kyodo News. All Rights Reserved.
_______________________________________
Click here to view the rest of today’s headlines.