Greensburg, Indiana – Honda Manufacturing of Indiana (HMIN) has begun mass production of the Honda Civic sedan at its new facility in Greensburg, Indiana. The US$550 million facility will ultimately produce 200,000 vehicles and employ 2,000 people at full capacity.

“With continued high demand for the Honda Civic, we are honoured and excited to help meet the needs of our customers in North America,” said Yuzo Uenohara, president of HMIN. “Our new Indiana associates are dedicated to building the very best Honda products, with customer satisfaction as our top goal.”

Nearly 900 workers have been conducting trial production for several months. Currently, the plant is operating on one shift, with plans to add a second shift in 2009. The plant uses a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine produced at a Honda engine plant in nearby Anna, Ohio.

Honda announced plans to build the Greensburg facility in June 2006, and broke ground in March 2007. It will be the company’s second U.S. auto plant designed as a zero waste to landfill facility, and will help boost Honda’s total North American automobile production capacity from 1.42 million to more than 1.62 million units.