Don Panoz's EV company wants to build a factory in Honduras

Don is a busy guy despite being over 80 years old. His sports car company Panoz has a whole heap of racing wins under its belt and was a perennial Gran Turismo favorite, but now he's got something new going: it's called Green4U and according to Reuters, it's planning on opening a factory in Honduras of all places.

So, let's start with what Green4U is -- apart from a truly terrible name. It's an electric vehicle manufacturer that plans on building rugged SUVs and golf carts and buses and probably some other stuff, too, because why not? It's cool because its forthcoming MTU-6 electric SUV looks like a cross between an old Defender 110 and a FJ55 Land Cruiser, but you know, with six doors.

Enlarge Image

Anyway, Green4U (can't get over that name) is going to be the first company to build an automotive assembly plant in the Central American nation of Honduras, which is mostly known for having both one of the world's highest murder rates and lowest rates of prosecution for crimes. Cool.

Anyway, Don Panoz signed a "memorandum of understanding" (which totally sounds like a rejected title for a Cake album, but is a real and totally normal thing in business, we swear) with the Honduran government. The proposed factory would require around $20 million over the next five years, and there are currently three locations being scouted, each close to a port on the Atlantic coast of Honduras.

Enlarge Image

If the factory gets built and things go to plan, this could mean the start of a lot more investment by American manufacturers in Central American production facilities; an industry which the region sorely needs.