Honda to spend C$15B to expand electric vehicle efforts in Canada (NYSE:HMC)

Honda (NYSE:HMC) confirmed plans Thursday to spend C$15B (~US$11B) in building an electric vehicle manufacturing plant and a separate EV battery plant in Canada, helped by billions of dollars of financial aid from the federal and Ontario provincial governments.

The figure includes investment by joint venture partners, Honda (HMC) said, with a target to begin producing EVs at the new facility in 2028, manufacturing 240K vehicles per year, while the standalone battery plant will have a capacity of 36 GWh/year.

The company said it is examining Alliston, Ontario, as the site for its Canadian EV production; it already builds gasoline powered Civic and CR-V vehicles at facilities in Alliston, where it has been producing vehicles since 1986.

Honda’s (HMC) move is part of a long-term bet on consumer demand for electric vehicles in North America, as the company continues to push toward its goal of electrified cars accounting for 100% of sales by 2040 – despite the recent slowdown in the growth of EV sales.

Honda (HMC) has started to ramp up electric vehicle plans in Ohio, where it expects to start building EVs in late 2025 at the Maryville plant, which it sees as the foundation for future EV and EV battery production, sharing expertise with other Honda facilities in North America, including the new Canada plants.