Honda of Canada Mfg. (HCM), a division of Honda Canada Inc., announced today that it will produce the next generation CR-V model for the European market. This will be the first time that HCM will export vehicles to Europe.
Today’s news follows Honda’s recent announcement that it will invest $857M in its Canadian facilities, as it prepares for production as the global lead plant for the next generation Honda Civic, Canada’s best-selling passenger car for the past 17 years.
“Honda is thrilled to once again have good news for automotive manufacturing in Canada by broadening our production portfolio to include exports to the European market,” said Jerry Chenkin, President and CEO of Honda Canada Inc. This expansion decision was made possible due to our deep, mature, and rich talent pool with nearly 30 years of automotive manufacturing experience. We are so proud that our Canadian associates have the reputation of producing high quality vehicles that will meet the needs of the discerning European customer.”
The announcement further solidifies Honda’s already deep roots and commitment to Canada. This export plan leverages Honda’s previous investment announcement, therefore it does not require significant capital investment and the impact on jobs will be modest. However, the agreement marks an important broadening of HCM’s export destinations, it secures highly skilled jobs in the region and provides additional opportunities for Honda’s chain of 1,500 Canadian suppliers.
“This decision to export CR-Vs was also made possible thanks to the Government of Canada negotiating a free trade agreement with Europe under the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). These opportunities will open new markets for our high quality vehicles from Canada and help keep us competitive in the global environment,” added Chenkin.
The announcement today was attended by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Minister of International Trade, the honorable Ed Fast.
Honda of Canada Mfg. has the capacity to produce 390,000 Civic and CR-V models annually for the Canadian and North America markets, as well as for export. Of which, approximately 100,000, Canadian-built Civic and CR-V units are sold on an annual basis in Canada. HCM also produces 260,000 four-cylinder engines annually.
