Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI), leading manufacturer of premium cars in India, inaugurated the 1st phase of operations at its second plant at Tapukara Industrial Area, Rajasthan. The new facility, which features world-class manufacturing techniques, was inaugurated by Smt. Vasundhara Raje, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Rajasthan, Takeo Fukui, President & CEO, Honda Motors Co. and Hideaki Domichi, Japanese Ambassador in India amidst a galaxy of senior Government and Honda officials, stake holders and Honda partners.

The inauguration of Phase I operations included the unveiling of a state of the art Press Facility and a modern and technologically advanced Power Train Unit for engine components. The Press and Power train unit will supply body panels and engine components to HSCI’s Greater Noida plant. These state-of-the-art technologies will provide the flexibility to HSCI to produce its models more quickly and efficiently.

With the Indo-ASEAN FTA in place, HSCI will get integrated into Honda’s pan-Asia supply chain network and this plant will be used to export certain engine components to Asian countries.

Honda will launch its premium hatchback Honda Jazz in India in Year 2009. In view of the importance of small cars in Indian market and the enthusiastic response which the company got for the Jazz when it was showcased at the Auto Expo in New Delhi this year, it has been decided to pre-pone the launch of the Honda Jazz to the middle of next year. The initial roll out of the car will be done from the current plant at Greater Noida.

Honda will also set-up R&D function in India to focus on market and environmental research and development of local components and materials more suited to Indian conditions.

In order to nurture the talent and enhance the skill levels of the youth of the region, Honda will set up a college for imparting technical education in the field of automobile technology wherein a 3 year Honda certified program course would be offered.

Takeo Fukui President & CEO, Honda Motors Co, in his address said, “For Honda, India is a very important market and our faith in India’s growth story stays intact. Our investment plans in India are on track and Honda is confident of catering to the increasing demand of our Indian customers through this new plant.”

“The new and enhanced facility is in line with Honda’s latest global plants with great emphasis on environment protection and safety,” he added. Source: Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

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Automobiles

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has received an order for a gasification CHP system using bamboo from Kitajima Shokuhin Co., Ltd. in Fukuoka Prefecture. The system employs Kawasaki’s proprietary technology for gasifying bamboo to generate combustible gas that will be used to supply power and heat via a gas engine. It is the fifth gasifier to be built by Kawasaki and is scheduled for completion by February 2009. CHP systems are available in 70 kWe and 175 kWe models. The new order is for a 70 kWe model and is the world’s first such system fueled by bamboo to supply electricity and heat to agricultural greenhouses.

A growing number of bamboo forests are being abandoned in Japan. Satellite image analysis shows that such abandoned bamboo forests account for 10% of the country’s total forest area. The fast growing bamboo trees erode neighboring forests and threatening the surrounding environment. Kitajima Shokuhin, a food processing company that counts bamboo shoots among its products, is working against this backdrop to promote effective use of bamboo waste generated from logging operations. Working in conjunction with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Kitajima Shokuhin will implement Kawasaki’s gasification CHP system using bamboo waste to test how well it supplies electricity as well as heat and air conditioning.

Some outstanding features of the gasification CHP system: (1) The system uses non-compostable bamboo waste generated from logging operations as fuel. (2) Generated electricity and heat is supplied to adjacent agricultural greenhouses as well as a packaging center. During the summer, cold water generated by the absorption refrigerator is supplied to the agricultural greenhouses to lower the inside temperature, resulting in increased harvest yields. (3) The system, employing Kawasaki’s proprietary fixed bed gasifier, minimizes tar generation for lower maintenance costs. (4) It takes only about 30 minutes to start up. Since the output can be easily changed, the system can be operated at the most desirable load depending on the season or time. (5) Byproducts generated from the gasifier such as bamboo charcoal and bamboo vinegar are also used in greenhouse farming.

Source: Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.

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Mitsubishi Motors Corporation today announced global production, as well as domestic sales and export figures for August 2008.

Source: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation

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Mini Vehicles, Japanese Cars

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. is promoting collaborative research with the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies1 on biodiversity conservation2. The research is in line with the company’s mid-term environmental action plan “Nissan Green Program 2010.”

This research is aimed at identifying the ecosystem impact of the automotive industry and the value of biodiversity conservation. The results of the research will be published as a cooperative research report with the U.N. Institute by the end of fiscal year 2008. The Institute played a leading role in bringing together a U.N. project, “Millennium Ecosystem Assessment” published in 2005, which evaluated the healthiness of the world ecosystem. Nissan has been conducting a research collaboration since 2007, with Dr. W. Bradnee Chambers, senior program officer, UNU-IAS.

As part of the research, a workshop was held in the US in August. In this workshop, world renowned experts in the area of environment were invited, including Professor Harold A. Mooney of Stanford University, and Conservation International, an international environmental non-governmental organization. Environmental journalist Junko Edahiro served as coordinator for the workshop.

Discussions at the workshop centered on biofuels and water resources, which have ties with the automotive business. The workshop implemented the method introduced in “The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review”, a guideline to evaluate the risk a corporation may face by the change in ecosystem services. The guideline was published in March 2008 by the World Resources Institute, World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Meridian Institute. The outputs of the workshop will also be included in the collaborative research report.

Biodiversity was positioned as one of the most important environmental issues along with climate change at U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 and various measures are taken by parties to the convention on biodiversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity. A resolution to promote commitment from the private sector was adopted at 8th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological diversity (COP8) in 2006 and there are high expectations of corporations. Further, international attention is growing as COP 10, which will be held in Aichi prefecture in 2010, draws nearer.

Nissan established its environmental philosophy: “A Symbiosis of People, Vehicles and Nature” in 1992 and is taking various actions to realize the philosophy under “Nissan Green Program 2010.” The goal of the program is “managing the environmental impact generated by our corporate activities, customer use of Nissan vehicles and the company’s use of resources on a level that is within nature’s capacity to absorb.” The collaborative research is conducted as a part of this mission.

Source: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

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Honda of Canada Mfg. (HCM) officially opened its newest investment in Canada– a state-of-the art $154 million engine plant. The new facility will produce 200,000 fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines annually for Civic production in response to growing North American demand for vehicles that provide excellent fuel economy. The new HCM engine plant is designed to be environmentally friendly with a target of zero waste to landfill, the same as the two HCM assembly plants. Energy efficiency is improved by as much as 30 per cent compared to a plant of equivalent scale with previously existing technology. CO₂ reductions are improved by approximately 15 per cent on the same comparative basis.

The Alliston-produced engines will be made from 100 per cent recycled aluminum, much of which is sourced from southern Ontario. The aluminum is provided by an adjacent Honda-related company, MAPCAN, that provides molten aluminum directly to the engine plant where engine heads and blocks are cast and assembled to produce 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engines.

Participating in the opening that attracted more than 250 guests were Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty; Japan’s Ambassador to Canada Tsuneo Nishida; Chairman of Honda Motor Satoshi Aoki; Federal Industry Minister Jim Prentice; New Tecumseth Mayor Mike MacEachern; Honda Canada President and CEO Manabu Nishimae; and HCM President Ko Katayama. Source: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

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Honda Vehicles