BUSINESS BRIEFS
Bankoh to issue Visa credit card
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Bank of Hawaii, the state's No. 2 bank in terms of assets, said it will resume issuing Visa credit cards next month, about five years after it stopped issuing the cards and sold its card portfolio to American Express Co.
The bank said the card, offered under a marketing agreement with FIA Card Services N.A., won't have an annual fee and will have a rewards program based on use. The bank said it will continue to offer a Visa debit card along with American Express cards.
PHOENIX CENTERS SOLD BY A&B
Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said it sold two shopping centers near Phoenix for $35.6 million after being approached with unsolicited offers.
The Honolulu-based real estate and shipping company said it sold the Carefree Marketplace to Jackett Carefree LLC and the Mesa South center to Jackett Mesa South LLC. Alexander & Baldwin, which purchased the centers in 1999 and 2001, said it had no plans to sell other real estate near Phoenix and was seeking other investments in the area.
FUEL EFFICIENCY IN HONDA PLAN
GREENSBURG, Ind. — Honda Motor Co. laid out plans yesterday for a $550 million plant in Indiana to build fuel-efficient vehicles, saying it believes that U.S. consumers are turning away from powerful gas guzzlers.
Honda said the new plant in Greensburg, about 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis, would go on line in 2008 and would eventually produce 200,000 vehicles a year with about 2,000 workers.
That will increase Honda's North American production to 1.6 million vehicles a year. Honda sold 1.46 million vehicles in North America last year and plans to sell 1.7 million by 2009. Company executives said the plant would produce four-cylinder vehicles with engines built in its plant in Anna, Ohio, and would be designed to switch quickly between models.
