TORONTO – Honda Canada will to build an electric vehicle battery plant near its automotive manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ontario, where it also plans to produce electric vehicles. According to The Canadian Press, the federal and Ontario governments will make an official announcement this week.
Some sources, according to various Canadian media, confirmed the agreement but were unable to provide figures.
The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has however confirmed that there will be an announcement on the agreement which should include an investment that is double the already huge one announced by Volkswagen last year (in St. Thomas, for 7 billion dollars ).
The plant that Honda is preparing to build in Alliston will be the third electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario, following Volkswagen in St. Thomas and the Stellantis LG plant in Windsor.
Flavio Volpe, president of the APMA – Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, comments enthusiastically on the news. “It is probably – he told today, using caution “because Honda hasn’t announced it yet” – the largest investment, or in any case one of the largest ever made in this sector not only in the history of Canada, but in a global level. The fact that one of the largest companies in the world, such as Honda, chooses Canada to launch its transition towards the electric world is a very important point of trust for what this country offers: a prepared ruling class, a skilled workforce, hundreds of the highest quality suppliers and the most advanced technology for electric vehicles but also, perhaps most importantly, access to the critical minerals needed for such a production: there is no region in the world that offers all these characteristics together and a global level of quality. Before this investment, the largest was Volkswagen’s $7 billion investment in Ontario and the even larger $11.4 billion investment by Ford in Kentucky. Honda’s investment in Ontario should beat them both…we await the announcement”.
In the photo above: Flavio Volpe, the president of APMA, the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association
