Gasgoo.com (Shanghai June 3) - Guangqi Honda is preparing to begin construction work on a third assembly line, auto.sina.com.cn reported earlier this week. The new assembly line will be responsible for manufacturing the production version of the Honda Concept C, which made its debut at April's Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, as well as other small cars.
The new line will be located at the manufacturer's most recently expanded production site. Construction work is scheduled to begin by the end of this year and be concluded by 2014, with the Concept C (pictured above) being its first product. The line will have a preliminary annual production capacity of 120,000 vehicles. That number will eventually increase to 240,000 vehicles.
At the same time, Guangqi Honda will begin building its first engine factory, which is also scheduled to begin operation in 2014. The factory will be part of Honda's plans to bring over the manufacturer's most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly engines to China. The JV has invested a total of 3.56 billion yuan ($563.02m) in the two projects.
Both Honda and Guangqi Honda showed off a variety of new models for the Chinese market. Honda has traditionally lagged behind its competitors in introducing new product for the country. The manufacturer seems to want to play catch-up now. According to officials from Guangqi Honda, the Accent, Odyssey, Fit and City will all be receiving updates this year.
Honda also showed off three news hybrids at the show: the CR-Z Hybrid (pictured below), Insight Hybrid and Fit Hybrid. Among them, The CR-Z is already confirmed to have reached dealerships in the country, and will be sold next month as an imported model.
