Shanghai (ZXZC)- GAC Honda plans to expand its new energy vehicle (NEV) capacity by 120,000 units per year, according to a bidding announcement posted on the website of Guangzhou Public Resources Trading Center on August 13.

Construction of the project is scheduled to commence in October this year and be completed in 2024, according to the document. The automaker intends to pour around 2.99 billion yuan ($431.456 million) into this project. The newly built facilities will include a car test track, a battery workshop, workshops for stamping, welding, painting and assembly, as well as other supporting equipment.

The vehicle models to be manufactured at the yet-to-be-built plant have not been announced yet.

Breeze SPORT HYBRID e+; photo credit: GAC Honda

GAC Honda currently has two all-electric vehicle models for sale, namely, the VE-1 and the EA6. Its first plug-in hybrid model, the Breeze SPORT HYBRID e+, made its world's debut at the Auto Shanghai 2021 and will hit the market in the second half of this year.

Japanese automaker Honda Motor exhibited the world premiere of the Honda SUV e:prototype, a prototype model of the first Honda-brand full-electric vehicle model for Chinese market. The mass-produced version is scheduled to go on sale in spring 2022 and will be produced by both GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda.

GAC Honda said it delivered 428,122 vehicles (+11.4% YoY) for the first seven months of 2021, 64,695 units (+6.9% YoY) of which were hybrid electric vehicles.