Honda plans to invest $2.5 bln to build hybrid vehicle plant in Ohio, Nikkei says (updated)

HONDA MOTOR

24/09/2026 17:25

Updates with Honda statement, more details on plans in paragraphs 3-12
TOKYO/WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Honda Motor 7267.T is in the final stages of preparations to build a new hybrid vehicle production plant in Ohio, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.
Honda plans to invest about 300 billion yen to 400 billion yen ($1.90 billion to $2.53 billion) in the new plant, expected to start production in 2030, the daily said.
 A spokesman for Honda in the US said, "No decisions have been made at this stage regarding a new plant in the US."
 Last month, a senior executive said Honda might not build an eighth assembly plant in ​North America unless a key trade deal is extended.
 The Trump administration is ‌currently negotiating with Canada and Mexico over the fate of the free trade deal known as USMCA.
 Honda Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara said the automaker ​is close to full production capacity in North America and needs a ​new factory.
 However, "if there is no USMCA agreement in the future, we ⁠may have to change our direction," Kaihara said, adding that Honda needs ​to decide within a year or two and would like the plant ​to be running by around 2030. Last year, Hyundai Motor ​told President Donald Trump's administration that uncertainty about USMCA was delaying its investment decisions.
 This year, Honda indefinitely suspended its Canada EV project, an $11 billion investment plan to produce electric vehicles ​and batteries. It also canceled three planned EVs for ​the US market.
 Last year, Honda said it was shifting production of its U.S.-bound five-door Civic hybrid model ​from Japan to Indiana.   
     
     ($1 = 157.8800 yen)

(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura in Tokyo and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and David Gregorio)
((satoshi.sugiyama@thomsonreuters.com))