Subsidiary to Oversee HondaJet

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. establishes a wholly owned subsidiary, Honda Aircraft Co., to develop, sell, promote and produce its HondaJet 7-seat personal airplane.

The auto maker announced last month its intention to establish a new U.S. aerospace subsidiary and build airplanes. An alliance was struck with Piper Aircraft Inc. for sales, promotion, service and distribution of the aircraft.

Honda Aircraft Co. will be based in a facility at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, NC, where the prototype HondaJet was assembled and has undergone three years of flight tests to date.

The aircraft’s chief engineer, Michimasa Fujino, is named president and CEO of the new company that officially goes into operation in October, at which point orders will be taken for the airplane. The goal is delivery of the first “mass-production HondaJet in 2010,” the auto maker says in a statement.