Honda Motor has announced a plan to build electric-vehicle and battery plants in Canada to meet growing demand for EVs in North America. The Japanese automaker will invest about 11 billion US dollars in the operation in Alliston in the province of Ontario.

Honda President Mibe Toshihiro and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met reporters at the site on Thursday.

Mibe said the new facilities will boost the firm's EV production system. The project includes plans to build EV and battery factories in areas neighboring existing plants.

The automaker expects to produce up to 240,000 vehicles a year in Alliston. Production is slated to begin in 2028.

Honda also believes that the local battery production could cut costs by about 20 percent from current levels.

The company says the investment includes contributions from its partner companies. It is now negotiating subsidies from the Canadian government.

Honda's goal is that all of its new-vehicle sales by 2040 will be EVs and fuel-cell models.