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Honda Motor Co. the producer of high quality auto parts like Honda spark plug wire is to spend approximately $40 million for its first jet aircraft factory. The additional investment will raise the company’s total venture to $100 million as part of the company’s expansion into aviation from manufacturing motorcycles, autos, and engines.

Construction had begun on the Honda Aircraft Co. facilities in Greensboro, North Carolina, as announced by Honda. The initial stage of the project is expected to be finished next year while the first deliveries of Honda Jet will start in 2010. The Tokyo-based company also plans to hire a workforce comprising of 350 people

According to Honda’s spokeswoman Alicia Jones in an interview recently, “The factory portion should open by 2009 to allow us to meet our goal of delivering Honda Jets by 2010.” She also added that Honda is building the unit’s headquarters at the site.

The world’s biggest engine producer and Japan’s second-largest automaker will also compete in aircraft manufacturing with Textron Inc.’s Cessna which is the world’s biggest business-jet maker. Honda has also announced that it has been able to get more than 100 orders for its $3.65 million Honda Jet that can accommodate as many as eight people.

The company also said that the aircraft is to be powered by two Honda-designed engined mounted over the wings making the aircraft more fuel efficient. It will also offer more standard features as compared to its other small rival jets. Honda is preparing three of the planes for test flights in the later part of 2008 for the US Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Honda had announced last February that it would spend approximately $60 million for its aircraft facilities while additional investment for the manufacturing portion is to be announced later on. Honda’s US operations are based in Torrance, California.

Honda’s American depository receipts was also reported to increase by 39 cents to $35.6 at 4:02 pm in New York Stock Exchange compose trading but for this year they have dropped by 9.8 percent.

About Honda

Honda Motor Company, Limited or Honda for short is a Japanese engine manufacturer and engineering corporation. However the company is most notable in terms of its automobiles and motorcycles surpassing Nissan to become the second largest seller of autos in Japan.

Aside from motorcycle, automobiles and engines Honda also produce other products such as trucks, scooters, robots, jets and jet engines, ATV, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies.

The high-end lines of cars of Honda are sold under the brand Acura in North America and China. And just very recently the company has ventured into the world of mountain bikes by producing the very first bike that make use of an internal gear changing system in the Honda RN-01 G-cross.

Honda produces 14 million internal combustion engines each year making it the largest engine-maker in the world. Then in the year 2004, the company has started producing diesel motors which were very quiet and at the same time do no require for particulate filters to pass pollution standards.

But in all the products that Honda has it is in the motorcycle division where its success is mostly rooted. Honda is headquartered in Tokyo. The company’s shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris, and Switzerland.