On March 19, Honda held an official groundbreaking ceremony for its $550 million automobile plant, to be known as Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC (HMIN). Site preparation for the new plant is complete and basic construction has already begun on a 1,700-acre tract in Decatur County, Ind. near the town of Greensburg, 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis.
The plant's 2,000 associates will produce the Honda Civic sedan. Honda first announced plans to build the new Indiana plant June 28, 2006, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles.
"In Indiana we will create an efficient and flexible manufacturing environment that is a great place for everyone to work," said Koichi Kondo, CEO of American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Major production processes performed at the Indiana plant will include stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, sub-assembly and final assembly operations. The Civic sedans produced in Indiana will feature fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines manufactured in Anna, Ohio. The vast majority of parts for the vehicles made at the Indiana plant will be manufactured by Honda's existing base of more than 600 North American suppliers
Honda said it will make a significant commitment to limit the environmental impact of the new Indiana plant, including ISO 14001 international environmental management certification, and advanced methods of energy and emission reduction with the goal to be a "zero waste to landfill" facility.
HMIN will be Honda's seventh auto plant in North America and one of 17 major Honda manufacturing facilities in North America. It will help to boost Honda's total North American automobile production capacity from 1.4 million units to more than 1.6 million units in 2008, employment in North America to more than 37,000 associates and capital investment in North America to more than $9 billion, according to a company statement.