Honda breaks ground on expansion project at Alabama plant

LINCOLN, Ala. November 22, 2002; The AP reported that Honda Motor Co. broke ground Thursday on an expansion of its eastern Alabama plant that will add a second assembly line and more than 2,000 jobs.

Gov. Don Siegelman joined Honda executives for a ceremony marking the start of the project.

The $425 million expansion will allow the plant to boost production capacity to 300,000 engines and automobiles annually. Once completed, the combined Honda operation will employ 4,300. Honda's total investment in Alabama will then be more than $1 billion.

Construction is expected to be completed in early 2004. The construction schedule for the 1.1 million-square-foot expansion is three months shorter than the one to build the existing 1.7 million-square-foot plant.

The Lincoln plant, about 45 miles east of Birmingham, Ala., produces the Odyssey minivan.