US facility · Auto parts
Astemo to invest up to $379 million to make more hybrid motors in Kentucky
- Company
- Astemo (Tokyo)
- Project
- Hybrid-motor expansion at two Berea plants, Berea, Madison County, Kentucky
- Value
- More than $112M in phase 1; up to $379M in total
- Status
- Announced on September 1, 2026, with Kentucky incentives preliminarily approved. No completion date given.
- Date
- 2026-09-01
Astemo Americas, the US arm of Japanese auto-parts maker Astemo, will add about 300,000 square feet across its two plants in Berea, Kentucky, to make more motors for hybrid vehicles. The first phase costs more than $112 million and creates 114 jobs; the full plan could reach $379 million and 282 jobs.
Why it matters
US hybrid sales keep growing, and carmakers want motors made locally. Astemo, formed from Hitachi's and Honda's parts businesses, already expanded in Berea in 2023.
Astemo in Kentucky
Astemo's Kentucky history began with a plant in Harrodsburg in 1985, and it now has three sites in the state. Astemo Americas has more than 15,000 employees at 23 manufacturing sites, 12 of them in the US. The state said the full project would be the largest private investment in Madison County in 20 years.
Incentives
Kentucky's economic development finance authority gave preliminary approval in April 2026 to tax incentives under two state programs, the Kentucky Business Investment program and the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act. The amounts were not stated in the announcement.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
