Honda has announced that they will invest a whopping $340 million to build fuel-efficient, gasoline engines in Ohio. Starting late this year, Honda will use this massive amount of money to incorporate a new assembly line at its Anna, Ohio plant in hopes of building new turbo-charged, four-cylinder gasoline engines.
Recently, the company has added plug-in hybrid and battery only vehicles to their lineup, and they even have plans to introduce a fuel cell vehicle as early as next year.
However, despite these advances, Honda– like every other major manufacturer– still has to lean on gasoline powered engines for a significant portion of their products. In fact, in an ironic twist, investments in gasoline powered engines have never been more important.
That’s because a the industry inevitably shifts to alternative energies, companies must have the funding to keep up with the developing technologies. This piggy bank money, of course, directly comes from today’s demand for fuel efficient, gasoline powered engines.
“We need good price signals to continue advancing these technologies,” said Robert Bienenfeld, U.S. senior manager of environmental strategy.
With that in mind, Honda’s gargantuan investment towards a fading technology is wiser than it may first appear.
4Wheel Online Blog - Automotive News 