Buenos Aires, June 25 (IANS/EFE) Honda will start manufacturing automobiles in Argentina in 2011, when the Japanese automaker”s plant opens in Campana, a city on the outskirts of Argentine capital Buenos Aires, company executives said.

The plant in Campana, located 65 km from Buenos Aires, will have the capacity to produce 30,000 automobiles annually. Around 60 percent of the vehicles manufactured at the plant will be exported. The first model to be manufactured in Argentina will be the Honda City.

Honda has resumed investing in Argentina after shelving its expansion plans amid the global financial crisis in late 2008.

The Japanese automaker has invested $500 million in Argentina, and the company is looking at pumping a similar amount into its operations here, Buenos Aires province officials told El Cronista daily.

Argentina produced 241,220 automobiles in the January-May period, up 59.1 percent from the same period in 2009.

The country is aiming to produce a record 700,000 automobiles this year.

–IANS/EFE

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