Honda Motor to build jet engines in North Carolina

07/18/07 - newratings.com

LONDON, July 18 (newratings.com) - Honda Motor Co (HMC), the world's biggest engine manufacturer, Tuesday announced that it would build a $27 million jet engine plant in North Carolina.

The Tokyo-based company said its wholly owned subsidiary, Honda Aero Inc, will soon commence the construction of a plant in Burlington and hire 70 workers over the next four years. Honda Motor added that the Burlington factory will start production of HF120 turbofan engines in 2010, with initial annual production of about 200 engines. The company said it had over 100 orders for the $3.65 million aircraft, which will use the engines developed and marketed by its joint venture with General Electric, GE Honda Aero Engines LLC, and will compete with models from Textron's Cessna, the largest maker of business jets.

With the investment in the Burlington plant, Honda Motor has in total committed $127 million for aviation facilities, including $40 million for a Greensboro, North Carolina, plant that will be used to build the eight-person HondaJet. According to Honda Motor’s agreement with North Carolina, the company would receive state incentives worth as much as $1.76 million over the next 12 years.