Honda this week announced plans to invest $100 million in a new assembly line and other production changes at its transmission factory in Tallapoosa.
The Japanese company makes 10-speed automatic transmissions at the plant, Honda Precision Parts of Georgia.
The investment will not mean additional hiring, unless the new transmission line does very well and overall production increases, said Eric Mauk, a spokesman for Honda.
The Tallapoosa plant has about 475 employees, said Mauk.
The announcement concerning the investment was made via press release on the Honda web site.
The company has its North American headquarters in California. But with so much of the nation's auto-making done in the South, Honda and other car-makers have developed a large network of plants that make parts of various kinds to serve the assembly plants.
Tallapoosa is nearly 60 miles west of Atlanta. It is likewise about 60 miles east of Lincoln, Alabama, where Honda has an auto assembly plant. Lincoln is about 45 miles east of Birmingham.
The Honda factory currently produces more than 375,000 transmissions a year for Honda and Acura vehicles. The new assembly line will replace some of them, but if the overall production increases, then more hiring would likely follow.
The new assembly line will make a transmission that will be placed first in the higher-priced versions of the 2018 Honda Odyssey minivan, then included in light trucks and other car models, the company release said.
The company also announced via press release that it will invest $49 million in its transmission facility in Russells Point, Ohio.
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