BRASILIA (Reuters) – Japanese automaker Honda will invest 4.2 billion reais ($807.74 million) in its Itirapina factory in Brazil by 2030, an executive said on Friday, adding that the company intends to develop a hybrid-flex vehicle in the South American country.
Honda’s announcement is the latest in a series of new investments from automakers such as Volkswagen, General Motors, Stellantis and Toyota in Brazil.
According to the Brazilian government, the investments promised by automakers in the country for the coming years already total almost 130 billion reais.
Honda’s commercial vice president in Brazil, Roberto Akiyama, said that the company’s investments will be focused on new technologies and the development of a hybrid model for the Brazilian market, which is capable of running 100% on ethanol.
The company, he told reporters, expects to produce up to 150,000 vehicles per year at the Itirapina plant by 2030, compared to 100,000 this year, both for sales in the domestic market and for export.
In addition to the yet-to-be-developed hybrid-flex vehicle, Akiyama said Honda also plans to launch a new entry-level SUV in the Brazilian market in 2025.
His comments follow a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasília.
($1 = 5.1997 reais)
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; editing by Kylie Madry)
