Honda joint venture in China to build new dedicated EV plant

Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned Honda subsidiary in China, announced that Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., a Honda automobile production and sales joint venture in China, will build a new dedicated electric vehicle (EV) production plant to establish sufficient production system and capability in preparation for the expansion of its EV lineup in the coming years.

Aiming to begin production in 2024, the new dedicated EV plant will be built in Wuhan Economic Development Zone in Hubei Province, China, with a lot size of 630,000 square meters, and a basic annual production capacity of 120,000 units.

Designed as a highly efficient and smart plant capable of start-to-finish EV production, the new plant will conduct complete processes for EV production including stamping, welding, painting, assembly and complete vehicle inspection. The plant also will strive to achieve an industry-leading level of automation, mainly in the assembly area.

Moreover, the new plant will proactively pursue sustainability initiatives, which will include utilization of renewable energy sources such as solar power toward the realization of carbon neutrality, use of recycled water and other resource conservation measures and reduction of VOC* emissions, a major source of air pollution.

Honda will continue accelerating its electrification efforts toward the realization of carbon neutrality by 2050 and offering attractive products that exceed customer expectations.

Based in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. is a 50-50 joint-venture between Dongfeng Motor Group and Honda Motor Company. It currently produces a variety of Honda models also available in other markets and a handful of China-only products. At present, Dongfeng Honda has three production plants with a design capacity of 768,000 vehicles per year, according to the company website. The first plant covers an area of ​​690,000 square meters and was put into operation on April 1, 2004. The second plant covers an area of ​​1.05 million square meters and became operational on July 10, 2012. The third plant covers an area of ​​1.2 million square meters, and officially went into production on April 12, 2019. In terms of production process, in addition to the five main processes of vehicle stamping, welding, painting, final assembly, and inspection, Dongfeng Honda also covers engine casting, machining, assembly, drive shaft and synthetic resin processes.

In 2020, in the midst of the global pandemic, Dongfeng Honda, which is located at the center of the epidemic, performed well. It sold 850,000 vehicles throughout the year, an increase of 6% year-on-year. Its market share reached 4.3%. Since 2017, Dongfeng Honda’s annual output value has exceeded CNY100 billion (USD15.6 billion), making it the first single company in Hubei’s industrial history with an output value of over CNY100 billion.