Honda’s China Venture to Build EV Plant to Expand Lineup

(Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co.'s China joint venture will build an electric-vehicle production plant in Wuhan as the Japanese automaker targets the world's largest car market to drive its EV expansion. 

The factory will begin operating in 2024, with an annual capacity of 120,000 vehicles, Honda said a statement Thursday. It will conduct complete processes of production from stamping to welding and vehicle inspection, and will automate much of the assembly line, the statement said.

Japanese automakers, which had been reluctant to shift to electric cars, are now gearing up and planning to invest tens of billions of dollars, with China seen as a key market. Toyota Motor Corp. has said it would invest $35 billion in EVs, a big pivot for the world's largest automaker that had previously championed hybrids.

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The 630,000 square meter plant will also use sustainable energy, such as solar power, and recycled water to reduce air pollution, the automaker said.

Honda's CEO Toshihiro Mibe said last year that it would go all-electric by 2040, becoming Japan's first automaker to publicly say so. It plans to roll out 10 electric vehicles within five years from Dongfeng Honda and GAC Honda, with a plan to export its EV series from China. 

Separately, Honda said its China vehicle sales declined 4% last year.

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