 "Honda Motors to boost investment in three Ohio auto plants by $300 mn")
Honda Motor said on Wednesday it will boost its investments in three Ohio auto plants by $300 million to have flexibility to build EVs, hybrids and gas-powered vehicles on the same assembly line.
The Japanese automaker in 2022 had announced plans to invest $700 million in three plants but is now lifting that to $1 billion, said Jennifer Thomas, a senior vice president at Honda's US unit. She also raised concerns about plans by President Donald Trump's administration to slash EV incentives.
Honda is also building a joint venture Ohio battery plant with LG Energy Solution in which the overall investment is expected to be $4.4 billion as part of its Honda EV Hub in Ohio.
Honda is retooling its Marysville Auto Plant, East Liberty Auto Plant and the Anna Engine Plant in Ohio.
"We are creating the flexibility to produce ICE, hybrid and battery-electric vehicles on the same production lines in Ohio. This enables us to quickly respond to changes in customer demand and market conditions," Thomas said.
Former President Joe Biden's administration adopted a series of regulations designed to speed deployment of electric vehicles. Trump has vowed to reverse those and the Transportation Department took the first step to do so on Tuesday.
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"We must find a way to avoid the dramatic political whiplash every four years in favor of policies that promote stability and allow for our industry’s strategic decision-making," Thomas said in Washington.
Thomas said incentives for EVs "are a powerful factor in our ability to compete, and undermining incentives leads to a decrease in EV sales."
She also cited Tesla CEO Elon Musk's role in a Trump effort to streamline government operations known as DOGE and the automaker's 2010 government loan.
"Considering who is leading this effort for the new administration, I do find it highly ironic that if DOGE existed years ago, Tesla would likely not exist," Thomas said. "Tesla is what it is because government policies kept them alive when profits on the product took time to realize." Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
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