Honda confirms diesel plans for Europe

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.