LINCOLN- Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing is planning a $200 million expansion of the company's operations in Lincoln that will add about 550 jobs.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based Kawasaki Heavy Industries, said it plans to invest in its consumer products division over the next 18 months to increase capacity to make Jet Skis, ATVs and other small vehicles. The $200 million will be used to add capacity to assembly, paint and welding lines, the company said, as well as increase automation.

Despite the increase in automation, which Kawasaki said is necessary due to the Lincoln area's low unemployment rate, the company said it still plans to add employees in both its consumer products division and its rail car operations.

Jason Hellbusch, director of administration for Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing, said there are a number of reasons driving the expansion, which is one of the largest in the company's history and one of the largest in the city overall in at least the past decade.

Kawasaki has been in Lincoln since 1974, when it opened its only North American manufacturing plant. However, most of its investment in the plant over the past couple of decades has been to support its growing rail car division as well as its new aerospace division, which opened in Lincoln in 2017.

Kawasaki is Lincoln's largest manufacturing operation, with more than 2.4 million square feet of space at Northwest 27th Street and U.S. Highway 34. It also is one of the city's largest private employers, with more than 2,400 employees.

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