Key Takeaways:
- The federal and provincial governments will invest more than $130 million in a Honda plant in Ontario to aid the company’s transition to hybrid-electric vehicles.
- Honda Canada will invest $1.4 billion in the plant’s upgrade and retooling, with the provincial government contributing $131.6 million.
The federal and provincial gov’t will each invest more than $130 million in a Honda plant in Ontario to help it transition to producing hybrid-electric vehicles.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday.
The Honda of Canada Manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ont. opened in 1986 and is the country’s second-largest automaker. It produces the Honda Civic and CR-V, with a production capacity of over 400,000 vehicles and 190,000 engines per year.
Also read: Students can’t afford for faculty to go on strike, says an Ontario minister
The plant currently employs the most people in the Simcoe region and produces gas cars and engines. It employs about 4,200 people in the manufacturing industry.
“Our government has a plan to build the auto manufacturing industry of the future right here in Ontario,” Ford said. “We are overjoyed that Honda has decided to invest in Ontario, and we are confident that the cars of the future will be built here in Alliston and across the province for decades to come.”
Honda Canada will invest $1.4 billion in the plant’s upgrade and retooling, including a $131.6 million grant from the provincial government. The federal government has agreed to match Ontario’s contribution, resulting in a $263 million total government investment.
The retooled Alliston plant will produce the 2023 CR-V and CR-V Hybrid.
Honda Canada’s president and CEO, Jean-Marc Leclerc, called the announcement “a significant step forward” in the company’s efforts to transition to electric vehicles.
By 2040, the automaker intends to sell only zero-emission vehicles in North America. It will gradually retool its plants over the next 20 years.
Honda’s confirmation Canada’s investment in transitioning to hybrid vehicle production comes as gas prices in Ontario continue to rise. According to the Canadian Automobile Association, the average price in Ontario is $1.73 per liter. At the same time last year, it cost $1.24.
“We’re delivering on our plan to build a better future for all Canadians by helping them build – and then drive – cleaner vehicles,” Trudeau said.
According to Statistics Canada, over 65,000 new battery-only and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were registered in Canada during the 1st nine months of 2021, up from 54,353 in all of 2020 and 56,165 in 2019.
The figures represent 5% of new car registrations in 2020 and 2019, compared to 3% in 2020 and 2019.
Source: Global news
Get Canada and Ontario’s top News, Market news, and other worldwide news only on Ontario Independent
