BURLINGTON, N.C., July 17, 2007 - Honda Aero, Inc., announced today that it will establish its corporate headquarters and a state-of-the-art jet engine manufacturing plant in Burlington, North Carolina, adjacent to the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport. The new facility will produce advanced jet engines developed and marketed by GE Honda Aero Engines, LLC.
GE Honda Aero Engines is a joint venture between GE and Honda Aero, established in 2004 for the development, certification and commercialization of jet engines in the 1,000 to 3,500 pounds thrust class.
The 102,400-square-foot Honda Aero facility will consist of 36,000 square feet of office space, a 58,400-square-foot production plant, and an 8,000-square-foot engine test cell. Production at the new engine plant will begin in late 2010 with the manufacture of the advanced and efficient GE Honda HF120 turbofan engine in the 2,000-pound thrust class.
Honda Aero will employ approximately 70 associates when the plant reaches its initial production plan of 200 engines per year within about one year of production startup. The company will invest approximately $27 million for construction of the headquarters and manufacturing facility, including equipment.
"This is a major step forward for our company, as we move to establish the home of our jet engine manufacturing operations here in Burlington," said Fumitaka Hasegawa, president and CEO of Honda Aero, Inc. "Just as our partnership with GE has created this class-leading engine, this facility reflects an important new partnership between Honda and North Carolina."
With a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, higher fuel efficiency, low emissions and the quietest operation in its thrust class, the GE Honda HF120 has been chosen to power two of the newest and most advanced products in the business jet market - Spectrum Aeronautical's Freedom and HondaJet, to be produced by the Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., a separate Honda company.
The HF120 is a higher thrust successor to Honda's original HF118 prototype engine, which has accumulated more than 4,000 hours of testing on the ground and in-flight. Honda research on jet engine technology started in 1986, with development of the HF118 engine beginning in the late 1990s. GE-Honda collaboration on the HF120 began in early 2005. The first core test of the GE Honda HF120 was conducted in early 2007, followed by full-engine testing later in the year.
Combining Honda's original small turbofan engine technology and GE's 60 years of experience in the development and manufacture of jet engines, the GE Honda HF120 is the most fuel efficient engine in its class; and while there are currently no emission regulations for small turbofan engines, the HF120 is expected to surpass the future anticipated emissions standards by as much as 20 percent.
About Honda
Honda Aero, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., the world's preeminent engine maker, producing more than 22 million engines annually for a diverse range of products including automobiles, motorcycles, power equipment (lawn care products, generators, marine engines and general purpose engines). Founded in Japan in 1948, Honda began operations in the U.S. in 1959 with the establishment of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Honda's first overseas subsidiary. Honda began U.S. production of motorcycles in 1979 and automobiles in 1982. Honda began making power equipment products in Swepsonville, North Carolina in 1984, producing engines and lawnmowers. The company has invested more than $9 billion in its North American operations, with employment of more than 33,000 associates, and annual purchases of more than $16 billion in parts and materials from suppliers in North America.
