Honda Canada Inc. announced plans Tuesday to add a second production shift to its Plant 2 facility in Alliston, Ont. — a move that would create 400 jobs in 2011.

The second shift, to be added early next year, will allow Honda to boost production to 600 vehicles a day from the current 400.

The Plant 2 assembly line produces the Honda Civic sedan, Acura MDX sport utility vehicle and Acura ZDX crossover. The company also makes the Honda Civic coupe and sedan, as well as the Canadian-exclusive Acura CSX luxury compact sedan, at its Plant 1 facility and produces engines at another plant in Alliston.

Just over half of the Honda and Acura vehicles sold in Canada last year were made in Alliston.

"We are pleased to be making this announcement as the Canadian economy continues to show signs of recovery," said Manabu Nishimae, CEO of Honda Canada.

The latest sales figures show Honda's Canadian sales in February were up 33 per cent from a year ago.

Vehicle sales rebounding
Honda is the second automaker in a week to announce a production ramp-up in Ontario. GM Canada said last Friday it will recall about 885 workers at Ontario plants this year to build more Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossover SUVs.

GM said it will recall about 600 laid-off workers at its Oshawa assembly plant, moving to three shifts from two in October.

All 127 laid-off employees at GM's CAMI plant in Ingersoll will be recalled next week and the company will recall 158 employees laid off from plants at other plants in Windsor, St. Catharines and Woodstock.

It isn't just Canadian auto sales that are rebounding.

A report from Scotia Economics says global auto sales in February surged 26 per cent from a year ago. That's the fifth straight month of double-digit gains.

The report estimates that North American auto production will gear up to an annual rate of 11.5 million units in the second quarter, up from 11 million units in the previous two quarters.

I am highly interested in automotive industries.
That's a good news.:biggrin: