Honda to build new assembly line, engine plant in China

Honda and Chinese partner Guangqi have announced that they have invested 3.56 billion RMB (about $580 million) to build a third production line and an engine assembly plant in the city of Zengchen, located not far from Shanghai.

Built on the same plot of land as Guangqi - Honda's two existing factories, the additional buildings will exclusively build cars and components for the local market.  The assembly line will feature a new, time-saving painting process and state-of-the-art laser welding machines.

Honda underlines the fact that the engine plant will be a model of eco-friendliness thanks to the widespread use of solar panels.  With a total capacity of 10,000 kilowatts, it will have the largest solar power generation system ever installed in a car factory in China.

The new production line is expected to be fully operational in 2015 at the earliest.  It will have an initial capacity of 120,000 units, but Guangqi - Honda plans on doubling that number before the end of the decade.  The new building will increase Honda's Chinese production capacity to about 1 million cars a year, an impressive number that is possible to attain because Honda has joint-ventures with two automakers, Guangqi and Dongfeng.