By Peter Landers and Chieko Tsuneoka

TOKYO--Honda Motor said it would invest 15 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about $11 billion, in building an electric-vehicle manufacturing plant and an EV battery plant in Canada.

Honda said it expects EV production in Canada to begin in 2028, with eventual capacity of 240,000 vehicles a year. The EV battery plant will have annual capacity of 36 gigawatt-hours, it said.

Despite a recent slowdown in the growth of EV sales, especially in the U.S., Honda said it was sticking to its goal of selling only EVs and fuel-cell vehicles globally by 2040.

To entice Honda, Canada's federal government and the province of Ontario are collectively providing C$5 billion, with the federal support available through investment tax credits.

Honda said it was examining Alliston, Ontario, a town about 70 miles northwest of Toronto, as the site for its Canadian EV production. The carmaker already builds gasoline-powered Civic and CR-V vehicles at facilities in Alliston, where it has been producing vehicles since 1986.

Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said Canada possesses the natural resources required to build EV vehicles and components. "Canada is a very attractive business environment for Honda," he said, adding the company is expected to add about 1,000 workers. "We strive to continue offering attractive products to our customers in North America in the electrified era."

As part of the EV battery production, Honda said it plans to establish two joint-venture companies, one with Posco Group unit Posco Future M of South Korea and the other with Japan's Asahi Kasei. The joint ventures will produce materials for EV batteries.

Honda didn't give financial details of the JVs or break down how the $11 billion will be spent. It said negotiations were continuing and it expects the work to be finalized in the next six months.

Honda and its larger Japanese rival, Toyota, have long produced hybrid gas-electric vehicles, but they trail companies such as Tesla and China's BYD in full battery-electric vehicles.

Honda has started to ramp up EV plans with investments in Ohio, where it expects to start building EVs in late 2025. It is building a joint-venture EV battery plant in Ohio with South Korea's LG Energy Solution, with an expected investment of $4.4 billion.

Write to Peter Landers at Peter.Landers@wsj.com and Chieko Tsuneoka at chieko.Tsuneoka@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-25-24 1212ET