Dongfeng Honda opens EV factory in Wuhan

The joint venture Dongfeng Honda has opened its new production plant for New Energy Vehicles (NEV) in Wuhan with an annual capacity of 120,000 units. It is also the first Honda plant in the world to be dedicated purely to the production of electric vehicles.

The modern factory in the Chinese province of Hubei will also be characterised by its high degree of automation. It should make processes more efficient and contribute to higher quality – quality and operating data is recorded for every work step in the factory. In addition, there are no longer any logistics employees in the stamping plant – parts logistics are automated, and there is also a multi-level, automated warehouse.

In China, Honda is planning to launch a total of ten electric models under the Honda brand by 2027, including models from the e:N series. However, the carmaker has great hopes for the Ye series of electric cars, which Honda previewed in April. With these models, Honda aims to become an all-electric brand in China by 2035.

In addition to the Ye series, the Lingxi L is also being built at the plant. It is the first model of Dongfeng Honda’s new EV brand, Lingxi, launched a year ago. The vehicle has recently gone on sale. The all-electric saloon costs from 129,800 yuan – the equivalent of around 16,800 euros.

However, Honda’s electric car plans in China are somewhat of a run for the money, as the combustion engine business has not been running smoothly of late. A plant operated jointly with GAC will be closed in October, and the combustion engine factory with Dongfeng will pause production in November. In July, Honda announced it would focus its Chinese production more strongly on electric cars. An electric car factory is also to be opened together with GAC.

“It is our great pleasure to hold an opening ceremony for the first dedicated Honda EV production plant which just started operation,” said Toshihiro Mibe, Global CEO of Honda, who travelled to Wuhan for the opening ceremony. “Honda will operate this new plant smoothly and stably and provide high-quality EV models to our customers in China, through which we will continue our pursuit to “Expand the Joys for our customers and society.”

global.honda, cnevpost.com (both Wuhan plant), cnevpost.com (Lingxi L)