And Honda’s new US plant goes to . . .
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: Some towns in the Midwest have been on pins and needles waiting to hear word from Honda. The Japanese carmaker has been mulling where to build its newest assembly plant. The lucky town gets 1,500 jobs. And the winner is . . . well, here’s Jocelyn Ford to tell us.
JOCELYN FORD: Honda has scheduled a news conference this morning for Greensburg, Indiana. That’s one of the towns competing for Honda’s auto plant. Ohio and Illinois were also in the running.
The Honda factory is expected to be churning out cars within two years. It’s part of the company’s strategy of having 80 percent of its cars sold in the US made in North America.
Honda launched the plan in the 1980s when U.S. carmakers were calling for protection from their Japanese competition.
Auto analyst Hirofumi Yokoi says bringing jobs to America is just as important to day because Detroit’s Big Three are laying off workers.
HIROFUMI YOKOI:“Japanese automakers are getting more concerned about trade friction between US and Japan.”
Honda plans to expand its sales in the US by 16 percent over the next four years. And Yokoi expects Honda’s US profits to overtake profits made back home in Japan.
I’m Jocelyn Ford for Marketplace.
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