When will Honda Hybridize the HR-V for North America?

 

There is demand for the HR-V to have a Hybrid variant available in North America, and it feels like it's only a matter of time before Honda has that as a offering.  With the current HR-V having just been redesigned for 2023 and Honda has a typical 5yrs between redesigning the vehicle, my guess is that the 2028 Honda HR-V will be the year for the Hybrid powertrain to come to Canada and the US.

2019 Honda HR-V/Vezel Mid Model Refresh

First introduced in North America under the HR-V banner in 2016, has been available since 2013 (Japan), this vehicle is now due for it's mid-model refresh.

-Aside from the slight changes to the grill and LED Headlights (no more EX-L Navi?!?  Touring now?), expect Apple Carplay and Android Auto to finally make their way to this model.

-Don't expect any powertrain changes, the 1.8L should be a mainstay at least until they decide on a full redesign.

-Can we say Honda Sensing?  I would say so.

Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid to be Sold in Canada

On the evening before the Montreal Auto Show media day, Honda Canada invited a bunch of journalists to a private event so they could admire the Honda Civic Type R Prototype in the flesh.

On the evening before the Montreal Auto Show media day, Honda Canada invited a bunch of journalists to a private event so they could admire the Honda Civic Type R Prototype in the flesh. The company’s compact hot rod will be on display throughout the Montreal show, but also at the Toronto show in February.

Absolutely no information was given about the new Type R. However, the folks at Honda did announce the arrival of a new model for the Canadian market.

The Clarity Fuel Cell, a hydrogen-powered, premium midsize sedan, was unveiled at the New York Auto Show in April 2016. The car will initially be offered in California, with leasing options starting last December. It was also announced that fully electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the Clarity would also eventually hit the market.

Honda Canada has just confirmed that the Clarity PHEV would also make its way to Canada. No extra details have been disclosed, but the Clarity Fuel Cell has a driving range of 586 kilometres and can be refuelled with hydrogen in about five minutes. The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid will probably use a powertrain based on the Accord’s two-motor hybrid system, which develops a combined 212 horsepower.

In addition, at the Detroit Auto Show last week, Honda said a dedicated hybrid model will be launched sometime in 2018, and that the Accord Hybrid’s two-motor powertrain would make its way into light trucks, without specifying which ones and when.

Honda promises that by 2030, two-thirds of their sales will consist of electrified models, and by 2050, it plans to produce half the CO2 emissions it was emitting in the year 2000.

An ambitious plan, since the last dedicated hybrid Honda sold was the Insight, and both the CR-Z and Civic Hybrid models have recently been retired.

Source;
https://www.sudbury.com/automotive/honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-to-be-sold-in-canada-516547

2017 Honda Ridgeline Trims and Colours (for Canada)

Well, here we have it, getting closer to landing in dealerships across Canada. 

Here are the trim levels and colours;

2017 Honda Ridgeline LX-HS
White Exterior / Black Interior
Black Exterior / Black Interior

2017 Honda Ridgeline SPORT
White Exterior / Black Interior
Black Exterior / Black Interior
Silver Exterior / Black Interior

2017 Honda Ridgeline EX-L
White Exterior / Black Interior
Black Exterior / Black Interior
Silver Exterior / Black Interior
Grey Exterior / Grey Interior
Blue Exterior / Grey Interior

2017 Honda Ridgeline TOURING
White Exterior / Black Interior
Black Exterior / Black Interior
Silver Exterior / Black Interior
Grey Exterior / Grey Interior
Blue Exterior / Grey Interior
Red Exterior / Beige Interior

2017 Honda Ridgeline BLACK EDITION
Black Exterior / Black Interior (Special)

-I can only assume that the Ridgeline will only come in a AWD pkg, no FWD like in the US.
-Spec's, features, and prices to follow....

HONDA CANADA CELEBRATES SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF RECORD ANNUAL AUTO SALES

•    Honda Canada Inc. combined and Honda Division set all-time annual sales records
•    Acura Division annual sales reach highest level in 10 years
•    Civic remains on top as Canada’s best-selling passenger car for 18th consecutive year
•    HCI, Honda and Acura celebrate four consecutive years of annual sales increases

MARKHAM, ON (January 5, 2016) – Honda Canada Inc. today reported an annual sales increase of 3% in 2015, on sales of 177,506 units by the Honda and Acura divisions combined, for the best annual sales in company history. Honda Automobile Division annual sales reached 156,503 units in 2015, up 2% over last year and an all-time annual sales record for the division.  The Acura Division reported an increase of 8% on annual sales of 21,003 units, which is the brand's best annual result in the past 10 years.

“2015 was a momentous year for Honda, as we sold more vehicles to Canadian customers than any previous year in our history, including the Honda Civic, Canada’s best-selling passenger vehicle for the 18th consecutive year.  Our success was achieved by focusing on our customers, providing a robust vehicle line-up that appeals to a wide variety of Canadians,” said Dave Gardner, senior vice president of operations, Honda Canada Inc.  “As our loyal customers are a key pillar of our success, we’d like to thank the thousands of Canadians who supported Honda and Acura this past year.”

“Honda also celebrated the hard work and dedication of generations of manufacturing associates in 2015, as the company built its seven-millionth vehicle in Canada in March. This many vehicles built by Canadians, for Canadians at Honda’s manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ontario, is definitely worth recognizing,” added Gardner.

2015 Honda Canada Inc. highlights

HCI:

•    Honda Canada had its best year in company history in 2015 with 177,506 sales versus the previous all-time record year in 2014 with 172,426 sales.
•    2015 sales represent the fourth consecutive year of annual HCI sales increases.

Honda:

•    Honda brand had its best year in company history with 156,503 sales versus the previous all-time record year in 2014 with 152,893 sales.   
•    Honda Division celebrates four consecutive years of annual sales increases.
•    Honda Civic remains in top position as Canada’s best-selling passenger car in Canada for the 18th consecutive year.
•    Honda CR-V had its best year ever with 38,961 sales versus the previous best in 2014 with 37,684 sales.
•    Honda Pilot set an annual record with sales of 8,230 units versus 6,356 units in 2013.

Acura:

•    Acura brand posts best annual sales results in the past 10 years.
•    2015 sales represent the fourth consecutive year of annual Acura Division sales increases.
•    Acura RDX had its best year ever with 7,380 units versus the previous best in 2014 with 6,557.


About Honda
Honda Canada Inc. was founded in 1969. It has produced more than seven million cars and trucks since 1986 at its two manufacturing facilities and builds engines at a third manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ontario. Both manufacturing facilities are extremely flexible and currently build Honda Civic and CR-V models. Honda Canada has invested more than $3.9 billion in Canada and each year it sources nearly $2.1 billion in goods and services from Canadian suppliers. Honda Canada has sold more than four million Honda and Acura passenger cars and light-duty trucks in Canada.


Source;
http://www.hondanews.ca/en/news/release/HONDA-CANADA-CELEBRATES-SECOND-CONSECUTIVE-YEAR-OF-RECORD-ANNUAL-AUTO-SALES-

Make it 18: Honda Civic will be 2015’s best-selling car in Canada

Two months remain on the calendar, but it’s in the bag: Civic is tops in Canada again

by Timothy Cain of www.autofocus.ca

There are two months remaining on the calendar, but Honda Canada has already generated enough sales activity with its compact car to establish the Civic as Canada’s best-selling car for an 18th consecutive year.
Not since 1997, when Joe Carter was still at bat for the Blue Jays, has something other than the Honda Civic been Canada’s best-selling car.

Tradition

Of course, the car Honda is selling today isn’t the same as the car Honda was selling when the streak began in 1998. Back then, the sixth-generation Civic was available in three bodystyles: sedan, hatchback, and coupe. Honda made a name for the Civic by building a reliable car with excellent resale value and appealing on-road dynamics. Canadians were buying an entry-level car, but Canadians didn’t feel punished for driving or owning an entry-level car.
Civic volume peaked when the eighth-generation car, with its edgier styling and two-tier dash, became thoroughly established in 2008, two years into its run. 72,463 Civics were sold that year in Canada, a figure Honda hasn’t matched since.
In fact, the Civic was not only Canada’s best-selling car in 2008, it was the country’s best-selling vehicle overall, regardless of classification, edging out Ford’s F-Series pickups which have taken the crown in every year since.
But while the Civic never matched its 2008 peak in its ninth-generation form, challengers have still consistently fallen far short of measuring up to the all-conquering Honda in Canada. The Civic outsold its nearest rival by 10,000 sales in 2011, by 14,000 sales in 2012, by 9,300 sales in 2013, and by nearly 16,000 sales in 2014.

The Overall Market

Yet there has been a new challenger in 2015 and in the first-quarter of this year, the Civic was Canada’s top-selling car in just one month: March. After four years of fending off the second-ranked Hyundai Elantra, 2015’s number-two car is the Toyota Corolla, the Civic’s traditional rival and a global top seller.
The Civic strengthened its position through the middle portion of the year, however. Now, through the first 10 months of 2015, the Corolla trails the Civic by 13,673 sales, effectively an insurmountable deficit for the Toyota to overcome in a declining passenger car market. Indeed, it is likely that Honda will have sold more Civics through October than any of its rivals will sell in the full 2015 calendar year.
Still, it hasn’t been an outstanding year for the Civic. The Canadian auto industry has seen car volume fall by more than five percent even as the overall market climbs toward another record sales year. While the Civic isn’t declining as sharply as the car sector as a whole, it is still down three percent. All of the Civic’s six best-selling alternatives have seen their sales decline on a year-over-year basis, as well, from the fourth-ranked Mazda 3’s 16 percent slide to the Corolla’s two percent slide.

The Next Generation

Regardless of what the car market is doing, Honda is pinning high hopes on its release of an all-new, tenth-generation, model year 2016 Civic this winter.
A more expansive body with greater interior space, new engines, the eventual debut of a hatchback bodystyle, and a high-performance Type R option should, at the very least, place the Civic at the forefront of the Canadian auto industry’s consciousness.
In the transition period, Honda Canada’s volume will also benefit from the clear-out of ninth-generation cars. For car buyers who don’t crave the newest and freshest and latest thing, and especially for car buyers who won’t want to buy a new car in the first year of its relaunch, now is the time to get into a new Civic.

Made in Canada

Historically speaking, Canadians aren’t only fond of the Civic for its reputation for reliability, resale, and above-average dynamics. Honda is a Japanese automaker, but the Civic is built right here in Canada. Alliston, Ontario, is home to production of the Civic and the CR-V, Canada’s third-best-selling utility vehicle.
Can the Honda Civic return to those eighth-generation, pre-recession highs during a period in which Canadian car buyers are quickly becoming Canadian crossover buyers? Who knows? But if any car can return to former glory in Canada, it’s likely the Civic, a nameplate which doesn’t need the overall market to grow if it can simply steal more sales from its rivals.
We’ve certainly seen the Civic steal market share in the past.

Source;
http://www.autofocus.ca/news-events/news/make-it-18-honda-civic-will-be-2015-s-best-selling-car-in-canada

Honda's Canadian Civic plant sets the world standard

Honda's plant in Alliston, Ontario is the "lead plant" for the all-new Civic, determining the assembly processes and systems that will be taught to facilities worldwide

by Jill McKintosh of www.autofocus.ca

Alliston, Ontario – With the requisite flashing lights and too-loud music, the ceremonial “first” 2016 Honda Civic rolled off this Canadian assembly line on October 20, 2015. But this was more than just the introduction of an all-new model.

The Canadian facility was the lead plant for the Civic, setting up the production, developing the systems, ironing out the kinks, and then training other plants in how to do it. It’s the first time in Honda’s history for a factory outside of Japan to be in charge.

The new Civic is a global design, and every plant that builds it, from Indiana to England, Turkey to Thailand, will follow the processes developed in Canada.

Honda first came to Canada in 1969 with motorcycles and power equipment, and started selling the Civic, its first Canadian automotive offering, in 1973. The company became the first Japanese manufacturer to open a factory in this country when it built the Alliston plant in 1986 to make the Accord. A second factory, initially producing the Odyssey, opened in 1998.

The entire facility now consists of four plants, making the Civic in the original factory, along with the CR-V in its Plant 2, engines in Plant 3, and bumpers in Plant 4. My tour took me through the Civic facility, which is now building the all-new, tenth-generation version.

Of all the cars made here, 75 per cent will go to the U.S., while 23 per cent will remain in Canada, and the remainder will travel to Latin America. While American buyers will get Civics made either in Ontario or Ohio, all Civics sold in Canada are made in Canada.

As with any other auto plant, the place is a hive of activity. These are some 4,200 employees overall, and all those on the assembly line wear white uniforms. The plant runs two shifts, and within their specific areas, employees can trade jobs between themselves after a few hours, which a Honda representative says can help reduce repetitive injuries. The plant is not unionized, and while wages weren’t revealed, the rep says that Honda generally follows whatever the Detroit automakers negotiate with their workers’ unions.

Unlike many plants that bring in many of the vehicle’s sub-assemblies already built by outside suppliers, Honda makes almost everything itself within the overall Alliston facility. Once the panels are stamped and welded together by robots to produce the car’s body, it’s prepped for paint.

As in most plants, the paint shop is the bottleneck, since eight of the 13 hours it takes to make each car are spent here, most of it in the paint curing process. About 30 cars are grouped at a time to be painted one of the seven available colours. It only takes a minute to change the colour being sprayed, but in a plant where a car comes off the line every 63 seconds, it’s important to minimize the number of times this has to be done.

Various areas build up the components that will go into the car. It takes 13 minutes to create an instrument panel, and the assemblers are guided by a build sheet that tells them such information as the colour, whether the speedometer should be in miles or kilometres, and airbag identification. An inspection document follows the car, and is filed at the end of the assembly line to legally register it as a finished vehicle with the federal government. The document is also entered into Honda’s database, so individual components can be tracked if any turn out to be defective and require a recall.

For most of their journey, the cars have been travelling nose-to-tail on the assembly line, but at a certain point they all turn sideways and move along door-to-door so their front modules and rear components can be more easily installed. The Civic factory is the only Honda plant that does this, primarily because the car’s small enough that it can fit this way in the space provided.

The modules, which include the bumper core and radiator, come in from Plant 4 and are loaded onto conveyors that travel along the ceiling. As each Civic moves along, a module comes down to the factory floor, where a worker picks it up with a hydraulic lift and manoeuvres it into place. As the line continues sideways, workers install other components while standing between the car and the parts bins, which hold enough of each item for one hour’s worth of assembly.

There are very few robots on the final assembly line, but those that are there tackle such jobs as installing the windshield and rear window, using lasers and three cameras for accurate positioning.

Once finished, each car is started up and drive-tested twice, the first time on a dynamometer. After that, every car goes outside for a spin around a 1.7-kilometre test track, where drivers test the acceleration and brakes, listen for wind noise, and drive over cobblestones to check for rattles. The track isn’t salted in winter and if the weather turns too nasty, cars are parked under a huge tent until it’s possible to use the track again. A Honda rep confirms that no car leaves without this step.

Some 90 per cent of production leaves by rail, while the remaining 10 per cent, destined for dealers in southern Ontario, is shipped out on trucks. The combined Civic and CR-V plants turn out 1,700 vehicles each day, five days a week. Cumulatively, the facility has made more than seven million vehicles since 1986.

The plant’s management has changed over the years as well. While some 15 per cent used to be assigned directly from Japan, the facility is now almost entirely run from within. And while being a lead plant for an all-new vehicle is a long and often difficult process, this is the one that’s teaching the world.

Source;
http://www.autofocus.ca/news-events/features/hondas-canadian-civic-plant-sets-the-world-standard

2016 Honda Pilot's Have Landed in Canada

Yep, they've finally landed!

2016 Honda Pilot Trim Levels for Canada

Here are the Trim Levels that will be introduced in Canada;

LX-2WD
LX-4WD
LX-A (not sure what this pkg will be unless it's designation is short for AWD).
EX
EX-L
EX-L RES (Rear Entertainment System)
EX-L Navi
Touring

More information to come as I get it.

2016 Honda HR-V Trim Levels and Colours for CANADA

LX-2WD Manual or CVT Automatic Transmission
-Crystal Black Pearl
-Modern Steel Metallic
-White Orchard Pearl

LX-AWD CVT Automatic Transmission Transmission
Adds to above colours;
-Deep Ocean Pearl

EX-2WD Manual or CVT Automatic Transmission
Same colours as above.

EX-AWD CVT Automatic Transmission
Adds to above colours;
-Misty Green Pearl
-Mulberry Metallic

EX-L AWD CVT Automatic Transmission
Adds to above colours;
-Milano Red

All interiors will be Black.
Expect the HR-V to land in showrooms July 2016.

JAPAN: Honda to ship Civic from UK plant to US

Honda will be hoping that the new Civic Type R can help to reinvigorate the brand and lift flagging European sales

by Dave Leggett of www.just-auto.com

Honda is planning to export its UK-made Civic to North America to raise the rate of capacity utilisation at its UK manufacturing plant, according to a Nikkei report.

The reported move is part of a multi-pronged strategy to improve Honda's disappointing performance in Europe.

Nikkei noted that the next Jazz (Fit) will not be made at the Swindon (UK) plant and will be imported to Europe from Japan. That sourcing switch will leave Honda with a capacity utilisation hole at its UK plant. Swindon will therefore manufacture a five-door version of the car for the North American market, Nikkei said, with NA shipments planned to start in the middle of 2016. The report said that some 30,000-40,000 annual shipments to North America are targeted.

Honda has exported models to markets beyond Europe - including to Australia and Japan - from its Swindon plant at times in the past.

The Swindon factory can produce 250,000 cars a year on two lines. However one of the lines - with a 100,000-unit annual capacity - is currently idle.

The report added that Honda is also planning to move "most" of its European headquarters staff - who are based in the UK - back to Japan.

Honda in Europe has seen falling sales in recent years as it was hit by delayed product renewals as it sought to save cost in the aftermath of natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.

At the recent Geneva Show, the company outlined plans for a new product offensive including new Civic Type R, the HRV, upcoming Jazz, a fuel cell concept and a new NSX supercar. It is also launching a revised CR-V. 

Source;
http://www.just-auto.com/news/honda-to-ship-civic-from-uk-plant-to-us_id156921.aspx

Honda Canada Presented with Four Value Awards at the Canadian International Auto Show

As Canadian automotive media gather to open the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, Honda received four combined awards from Canadian Black Book (CBB) and ALG for overall best retained value and best residual value. The segment awards are received for vehicle quality, reliability and overall value.

“Honda Canada is honoured to be recognized by CBB and ALG for their prestigious value awards,” said Dave Gardner, senior vice president of operations at Honda Canada. “The distinction speaks to the promise of our core brands - reliability, durability and quality – and provides our customers with the knowledge that they are purchasing the highest quality vehicles.”

ALG Awards
ALG's Residual Value Awards honour the vehicles that are forecast to retain the highest percentage of MSRP after a four-year period for mainstream brands. Award recipients are chosen after a careful evaluation of vehicle criteria, including segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. Awards are given in 22 vehicle segment categories and two brand categories (Mainstream and Premium). This year’s winners include:

• Compact Utility – Honda CR-V
• Minivan – Honda Odyssey

Canadian Black Book Awards
The Canadian Black Book ‘Best Retained Value Awards’ acknowledge vehicles that retain the highest percentage of their original MSRP after four years. For 2015, this distinctive award program analyzed model year 2011 vehicles in 20 different categories. CBB's awards guide consumers who are looking for vehicles that hold their value best, thereby reducing the total cost of vehicle ownership...a critical consideration when purchasing a vehicle. This year’s winners include:

• Sub-Compact Car – Honda Fit
• Minivan – Honda Odyssey 

 

Source;

http://www.houseofjapan.com/auto-moto/honda-canada-presented-with-four-value-awards-at-the-canadian-international-auto-show

Honda Civic Celebrates 17 Years as Canada’s Best-Selling Passenger Car

MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With sales of 66,057 units in 2014, the Honda Civic outsold its closest competitor by more than 15,000 units to retain its position as Canada's best-selling passenger car for the 17th consecutive year. This remarkable feat is a testament to the durability, quality and reliability that Canadians have come to expect from Honda and the delicate balance of safety, fuel efficiency and fun-to-drive attributes that Civic delivers, year after year.

“We truly value the trust that our customers put in us when they buy a Civic”

"We truly value the trust that our customers put in us when they buy a Civic," said Dave Gardner, vice president of sales and marketing, Honda Canada Inc. "Nearly every Civic sold in Canada is built for Canadians, by Canadians, right here in our Ontario manufacturing facility. Seventeen years is an accomplishment that the entire Honda family can be very proud of; from our over 4,000 associates in Alliston, to our regional and national staff and thousands of associates at our 231 Honda dealers across the country.”
Since 1973, more than 3.8 million Honda Civics have been manufactured by Canadians at Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ontario and more than 1.8 million Civics have been parked in driveways across the country over the years.
Honda’s commitment to constantly improve the Civic culminates in the new 2015 Civic, which is available in Canadian dealerships now. It is a vehicle with over 40 years of excellence and with its various models, engines and trim levels, there truly is a Civic for everyone. More information on the 2015 Honda Civic can be found at www.honda.ca.
About Honda
Honda Canada Inc. was founded in 1969. It has produced more than 6.5 million cars and trucks since 1986 at its two manufacturing facilities and builds engines at a third manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ontario. Both manufacturing facilities are extremely flexible and currently build Honda Civic and CR-V models. Honda Canada has invested more than $3.9 billion in Canada and each year it sources nearly $2.1 billion in goods and services from Canadian suppliers. Honda Canada has sold more than 4 million Honda and Acura passenger cars and light-duty trucks in Canada.

Source;
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150105006569/en/Honda-Civic-Celebrates-17-Years-Canada%E2%80%99s-Best-Selling#.VKwAasmrEsI

Honda to invest $857 million in Alliston (Ont gov kicks in $85.7M)

Honda Canada’s upgrade at its Alliston plants made the Canadian operation the first ‘global lead plant’ outside Japan. Ontario taxpayers contribute 10 per cent.

By: Rob Ferguson Queen's Park Bureau, Queen’s Park Bureau, Published on Thu Nov 06 2014

ALLISTON, ONT.—Ontario taxpayers are kicking in 10 per cent of the $857 million Honda is investing to upgrade three plants north of Toronto so the company can take the lead in developing the next-generation Civic.

The project — which has not secured any federal investment — will modernize the Civic, CRV sport utility and engine factories to provide “important efficiency gains,” Honda of Canada chief executive Jerry Chenkin said Thursday.

The three-year effort includes worker training and development and partnerships with Ontario colleges and universities and will make Honda’s Alliston operations a “teaching plant” for Honda workers around the world.

Chenkin ‎and Premier Kathleen Wynne acknowledged the province’s “conditional grant” of up to $85.7 million is not buying any new jobs.

“We’re helping to protect 4,000 good jobs,” the premier said after a tour of the massive CRV factory, touting Honda’s investment as a “vote of confidence” in the province.

The announcement comes months after Ford Canada — which got a multi-million injection from Ontario to upgrade its Oakville assembly plant — decided to shift engine production to Mexico instead of Windsor, taking 1,000 jobs south.

Losing auto production to Mexico and the United States has been a problem for Ontario, with the government unsuccessful in recent efforts to land new assembly plants while it tries to shore up existing production.

“We’re always aggressively pursuing others,” Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid told reporters.

Wynne, who fought the spring election campaign in part on her push to “partner” with automakers and other industries on next-generation manufacturing, said teaming with Honda kept the project from goi‎ng to another jurisdiction.

“Not in Ohio, not in Indiana, but right here in Ontario,” she boasted.

Chenkin suggested that the province’s cash infusion helped convince his bosses that the best business case for the investment was in Ontario.

“We have to fight for the business we get in Canada,” he said.

It’s the first time one of the company’s plants outside Japan has been designated as a “global lead plant,” which is a credit to the knowledge and experience of Alliston workers, he added.

While Honda’s project will take three years to complete, the Ontario contribution will be made in stages over five years and is conditional on the automaker meeting investment and job maintenance targets.

Provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she wanted to make sure there were firm job guarantees attached to the provincial money.

“We think it’s worthwhile to keep auto sector jobs in Ontario, but what we do want to make sure is that there’s value for the investment that taxpayers provide or that the government commits to with these grants,” she said.

“So with $85 million, what is the guarantee around keeping investment here and making sure that we continue to have the same workforce, that the 4,000 have their jobs guaranteed?”

Interim PC Leader Jim Wilson is pleased Honda will be expanding its Alliston plant in his riding, but said the government should not give big grants to a select few companies.

“I’m happy to see the jobs, but my preference would be for the government to get off this slippery slope of picking winners and losers and do the right thing for the economy, and for jobs, and lower (electricity) rates and taxes for all the businesses and let them — without government grants — create the jobs.”

Aside from securing 4,000 jobs at the three plants, the Honda project will bolster 1,500 suppliers who are paid about $2.1 billion a year to provide parts and services, Chenkin said.

It’s been almost 30 years since Honda became the first Japanese automaker to build a manufacturing plant in Ontario, building the Alliston factory in 1986.

Since then, the company has invested $3.9 billion in the province with plants that can produce 390,000 Civics and CRVs annually for the Canadian and North American markets, as well as for export. About 100,000 are sold in Canada.

Honda can also produce 240,000 four-cylinder engines annually in Alliston, where the first vehicles to roll off the line were Civics in 1988. Odyssey minivans were built in the second plant starting in 1998, with the engine factory opening 10 years later.

With files from Dana Flavelle and The Canadian Press

For the rest of the article with a video;
http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/11/06/honda_to_make_major_announcement_in_alliston.html

Honda to invest $857M in Ontario plant to build next generation of Civic car

The Ontario factory will become the first Honda plant in the world to launch the next generation Civic into mass production.

by the Canadian Press

Honda is investing $857 million in its car plant in Alliston, Ont., over the next three years, with provincial taxpayers kicking in 10% of the total cost.

Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Thursday that the province will give Honda a conditional grant of up to $85.7 million for “leading edge technologies” to upgrade vehicle assembly and engine manufacturing. Government officials said the grant money is to be doled out over five years.

“This investment by Honda is a vote of confidence in Ontario’s highly skilled workers,” Wynne said. “It’s a vote of confidence in Ontario’s capacity for innovation and leadership and it’s a vote of confidence in Ontario’s auto sector, which remains one of the strongest and most diverse in the world.”

The investment supports thousands of jobs not only in Alliston, but across the auto supply chain, Wynne said.
Honda said the new funding will make the operation a teaching plant for all other Honda facilities.

Alliston, about 90 kilometres north of Toronto, is becoming the first Honda plant in the world to launch the next generation Civic into mass production and will develop the processes and tooling trials that will form the manufacturing base at all Honda plants worldwide, the company said.

“We are deeply proud to be the lead plant for the next generation of Honda Civic, a designation that reflects the incredible efforts of Honda associates over the past quarter century to produce products of the highest quality for our customers in Canada and around the world,” said Jerry Chenkin, president and CEO of Honda Canada.

“This marks the first time a Honda plant outside Japan has been designated as a global lead plant.”

The money will also fund new research and development partnerships with Ontario universities and colleges, the government said.

For the rest of the article;
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/11/06/honda-to-invest-857-million-in-alliston-operations-ontario-kicks-in-10/