Honda to boost Greensburg production

GREENSBURG, Ind. (AP) - Honda Manufacturing of Indiana LLC said Wednesday that it plans to increase its capacity by 50,000 vehicles annually at its plant and add production of the Civic Hybrid early next year, creating about 300 new jobs.

The $40 million investment will increase production capacity by 25 percent to 250,000 vehicles per year, according to the automaker. The company said it expects to hire the new workers later this year.

The facility in Greensburg, about 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis, was the first Honda plant in North America to build a hybrid vehicle when it began turning out the Acura ILX Hybrid in April, the company said. It also produces Civics and Civic Natural Gas models.

The factory doubled the size of its workforce to about 2,000 workers last fall when it started a second production shift at the plant, which opened in 2008.

Since late last year, Honda's seven automobile production plants in North America have been operating at or above their full straight-time capacity, which currently totals 1.63 million vehicles per year. In addition to the new second shift at the Indiana plant, Honda's plant in Marysville, Ohio, resumed second-shift production on one line late last year.