Honda Motor Co. said on Nov. 4 it would invest about 14 billion yen (US$142 million) in a new domestic plant, aiming to boost efficiency during the economic downturn.
Honda said the new automobile transmission plant would be located within an existing factory in Hamamatsu, central Japan. The new facility, which is expected to start operating in 2010, will boost transmission production by more than half.
The investment comes at a tough time for Japanese automakers, whose earnings are being squeezed by weak sales in the U.S., Europe and Japan, as well as by a stronger yen, which is bad for exports.
Sales of new cars, trucks and buses in Japan fell 13.1% in October from a year earlier, down for a third straight month, the Japan Automobile Dealers' Association reported on Nov. 4.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
