Jul 18, 2012

Honda hiring 300 and will make hybrid cars in Indiana

By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
Updated 2h 8m ago

Honda said today that it's going to hire 300 more workers and invest $40 million to increase annual production capacity by 50,000 vehicles at its Greensburg, Ind., plant starting early next year.In doing so, Honda will add production of the Civic Hybrid, making it Honda's first American plant to make a hybrid. Currently, they are all made in Japan, where Honda is based.

But it won't be the plant's only venture at making alternative powered cars. It already makes the natural-gas version of Honda Civic, besides the conventional versions of the Civic and new Acura ILX entry-level luxury sedan. The plant's total capacity will be 250,000 vehicles a year -- not bad, considering it has only been open four years.

Says Senior Vice President Bob Nelson in a statement: "We are excited about these new opportunities for our plant, because it shows that the customer is embracing the products we make here in Indiana."

Honda announced a second shift at the plant last fall that added about 1,000 jobs.

Honda says its seven auto plants in North America currently make 1.63 million vehicles per year. In addition to the new second shift at the Indiana plant, Honda's plant in Marysville, Ohio, resumed second-shift production on one line late last year.

Honda hiring 300 and will make hybrid cars in Indiana