Autoblog

Honda Motor announced Tuesday that it is going into the jet airplane business. After flying various versions of a small business jet for about nine years, the company has decided to enter the very light jet market with its airborne equivalent of the Honda Civic.

Honda has partnered with venerable light plane manufacturer Piper Aircraft to bring the innovative small jet to market. Honda will establish a new U.S. company for the venture, with production likely to start in 3-4 years, after the lengthy FAA testing and certification process is completed. Eager buyers will be able to place orders by the fall of 2006.

The 7-seat HondaJet features innovative aerodynamics for increased fuel efficiency and performance, and a new jet engine designed and developed by Honda (shown at right).

Make no mistake - Honda intends to make the same impact on the aircraft market that the Civic made on the auto market. Stay tuned!

[Source: Honda]