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Honda announces four Ontario EV and battery factories in $15-billion deal

Honda is building a series of four factories in Ontario as part of a massive $15-billion investment in its North American EV manufacturing footprint.The announcement, held at the automaker’s existing auto assembly plant in Alliston, Ont., comes after a week of frenzied speculation that the Japanese automaker was on the cusp of revealing its long-rumoured commitment to manufacturing EVs in Ontario.It turns out to be the case. But there is a bonus: Honda is exploring setting up two factories with two joint venture partners in South Korea’s Posco Chemicals and Japanese chemicals company Asahi Kasei.Billing the investment as a plan “to establish [a] comprehensive electric vehicle value chain in Ontario,” Honda says the move complements ongoing development of its EV Hub project in Ohio and “will represent a significant aspect of the company’s overall value chain in North America.”

In a prepared statement, Honda Canada president and CEO Jean Marc Leclerc said the “historic” investment builds on Honda’s multi-decade track record of automotive manufacturing in Canada.