Honda is building a new transmission facility in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, on the site of its soon-to-open vehicle assembly plant.
Initial output for the new facility, which will produce continuously variable transmissions primarily for Honda’s Mexico-built vehicles including the next-generation Fit subcompact, is 350,000 units annually, which should double to 700,000 “in the coming years,” Honda says.
The transmission facility is slated to open in spring 2015. Honda’s new, 200,000-unit capacity vehicle plant next door is expected to start output in February 2014.
“We are establishing a production base with outstanding global competitiveness in CVT production in the same location as our new automobile plant in Celaya,” Tetsuo Iwamura, CEO of Honda North American Regional Operations, says in a statement.
“As we continue to advance our commitment to build products close to the customer, we appreciate the strong support we have received here in Mexico.”
Employment will reach 1,500 workers when the plant hits full capacity, Honda says.
The Japanese auto maker’s initial investment in the new CVT facility is $470 million.
Honda’s North American transmission capacity will be 2 million-plus units when the Celaya plant reaches full production.
