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Thursday, April 05, 2007
Hondajet News: February 9, 2007
Honda Aircraft Company to Establish World Headquarters and Production Facility in Greensboro, North Carolina
HondaJet to be produced at new plant for delivery to customers in 2010
GREENSBORO, North Carolina, U.S.A., February 9, 2007 – Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., announced plans to establish its world headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, with construction of a new 215,000 square foot headquarters facility and hangar at Piedmont Triad International (PTI) airport. The company also confirmed plans to manufacture its advanced light jet, HondaJet, at a new plant to be constructed adjacent to its new headquarters. Further details about the production facility, including the size, scope of operations and construction timetable, will be announced at a later date. Honda plans to begin delivery of HondaJet to customers in 2010.
Initial investment for construction of the new headquarters facility and hangar will be about $40 million, plus approximately $20 million for equipment, bringing the total initial investment to $60 million. Details of additional investment for the HondaJet manufacturing facility will be announced at a later date.
Total Honda Aircraft Company employment, including all engineering, sales and marketing, manufacturing and support activities, will increase to more than 300 associates by the time the manufacturing plant reaches full capacity.
"For five years, Greensboro has served as the home of HondaJet, as we have worked to take our dream from the drawing board to the sky," said Michimasa Fujino, president & CEO of Honda Aircraft Company, Inc. "As we move steadily toward certification, production and delivery to our customers, I am excited that Greensboro will be home both to our company's world headquarters and the production of HondaJet."
Honda Aircraft Company's new headquarters will serve as the home for all HondaJet research, product engineering, sales and marketing, and service support, and will replace the company's existing 32,000 square foot hangar and office complex, also located at PTI airport. Construction of the new facility, to include a 147,000 square foot airplane hangar and approximately 68,000 square feet of office space, will begin immediately, and is scheduled to be completed in November of this year.
HondaJet employs a number of innovative new technologies and design features - including an all composite fuselage and a unique over-the-wing engine mount (OTWEM) configuration - to set new standards for performance, comfort and quality in the growing "light jet" segment of the market.
Honda's first-ever commercial aircraft lives up to the company's reputation for superior fuel efficiency, delivering 30-35 percent better cruising fuel efficiency than comparable jets, along with a class-topping cruise speed of 420 knots (450 mph) and a more spacious cabin with room for up to eight people. The customer base for HondaJet is composed of owner-pilots, corporate travel operators and air taxi companies. In November, Popular Science magazine selected HondaJet as the winner of the publication's 2006 "Best of What's New" award in the Aviation & Space category.
All major assembly and testing of the prototype HondaJet has been conducted at the company's existing Greensboro facility, which opened in 2001 as an extension of Honda's global R&D operations. The decision to commercialize HondaJet was announced in July 2006, followed by the establishment of Honda Aircraft Company, Inc. on August 4, 2006. The company has received well more than 100 customer orders for the $3.65 million HondaJet since its launch on October 17, 2006.
The HondaJet production facility will become Honda's seventeenth major manufacturing plant in North America, including two currently under construction in Indiana and Ontario, Canada. Honda already has a major North Carolina manufacturing facility, near Swepsonville, producing general purpose engines, lawn mowers and other power equipment products. The $188 million facility, opened in 1984, employs 580 associates and has the capacity to produce 2 million engines and 380,000 lawn mowers annually.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Honda Getting Into the Mini-Jet Business with its HondaJet
Honda has been working for over 20 years on its HondaJet, and now has decided to go into business with Piper Aircraft to sell the six-passenger (plus one pilot) mini-jet by 2010. The company says it will start taking orders this Fall for the jet (seen here in its custom Gizmodo livery), which will cost somewhere between $1.5 million and $4 million.
This little pocket rocket has already flown at 43,000 feet at a speed of 450mph. And in the grand tradition of Honda automobiles, it's 5% more fuel-efficient than its competitors, according to Michimasa Fujino, a vice president of Honda Research and Development Americas, who has led the jet's development. Plus, the jet's wing-mounted engines makes its interior the roomiest in its class.
Looks like just the right size to fit our intrepid Gizmodo team, taking us on necessary adventures far and wide. Note to self: order one asap.
Honda forms aircraft unit, aims to sell jet in 2010
TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co. (7267.T: Quote, NEWS, Research) said on Tuesday it has set up a subsidiary in the United States to sell, produce and further develop its seven-person micro-jet, with a goal of delivering the first mass-production HondaJet in 2010.
The wholly owned unit, called Honda Aircraft Company, will be based at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the prototype HondaJet was assembled and test-flown over more than three years, it said in a statement.
Japan's third-biggest auto maker last month announced long-awaited plans to enter the aviation industry, saying it would start taking orders for the HondaJet this fall. It has entered a wide-ranging alliance with Florida-based Piper Aircraft Inc. that would include sales and marketing of the new plane.
HondaJet is the result of 20 years of aviation research at Honda, best known for its cars and motorcycles, and promises improved fuel economy, a larger cabin and higher cruising speed than conventional jets in the same class.
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