Honda confirms diesel plans for Europe
April 24, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Honda has confirmed it will go ahead with the development and production of cleaner diesel engines for the European market.
Having recently completed construction of a new engine plant in Ogawa, Japan, Honda will from September have the capability to supply cylinder blocks and casting equipment for its 2.2-litre diesel engines in to the European market.
Honda currently produces diesel engine cylinder blocks at its Suzuka factory in Japan, and will gradually transfer the casting and machining process of engine parts to the new Ogawa plant.
The new plant will then supply diesel engine parts to the Sayama factory, to go into the Accord for the European market. It will also supply diesel engine parts for Honda’s factory in Swindon, which produces Civic and CR-V models.
Ogawa is an environmentally-responsible manufacturing facility that has been designed to decrease the amount of CO2 generated in the production of each engine by 40 per cent during the casting process, and by 25 per cent in the machining process.
The plant has only one production line, but this ‘Advanced Flexible Line’ can produce up to eight different types of engine, including the most sophisticated low-emission units as required by strict EU emission regulations.
Print it: 
I would have thought this was a necessary move to keep up with European demand for diesel engine cars.
Yes, a timely move, only a few decades too late.
About time – so long as the increased diesel capacity gets hooked to automatics, at least so far as the Oz market is concerned.
What Honda needs here ASAP is the Euro Auto which is now available in the UK. Providing they do not gouge – a real concern with their recent pricing of Odyssey and Civic hatch – thay will offer a real alternative to AUDI, BMW and even Merc in the executive market.
Honda has had a diesel engine in the Accord (Euro), CR-V and Civic for at least four years in Europe. Motor industry does not stop at Australian shores.
WHy dont they give us diesel down under. I drive a 2009 accord and it has good go on highways but there is no low down torque. i mean no lowdown torque !!. Plaese Honda, Australia is now becoming a diesel country.
WOW That’s brilliant news, fantastic. Sarcasm!!
No matter how much technology go into these engines whether from Honda,VW,BMW,Mercedes,I still consider them dirty stinking diesels.
Oh! sure,for a little while they hardly blow smoke,after a couple of years or so they start smoking from the rear end polluting the air and fumagating the occupants of the vehicle behind these “portable smoking factories”.
Not the mention the “clunking” sound of the engines.
I don’t want to see comments about “Oh! but the Merc. and the BMW or the Peugeot have quiet engines”-maybe from the inside but not so much from the outside-thus another irrating factor that other road users have to tolerate from these oil burners.
QwkEdie – stuck in a time warp? take off the blindfold, open your eyes, smell the roses… You may consider as such, but those of us with a more open mind (i.e. not stuck in the 90s) are realising diesel is probably going to be the dominant force in mainstream motoring, especially in Europe, for the foreseeable future. Cheaper to run (for anyone doing 20,000km+ cheaper full stop), cleaner (most emissions other than NOx), more accessible power – against a marginal noise increase?
Wakey wakey. I know where my money is.