COLUMBUS, Ohio – Honda said Wednesday it will invest $98 million at its largest auto engine plant for the western Ohio facility to produce components for its new transmission technology.

The engine plant in Anna will make high-tech pulley components for Honda’s new continuously variable transmission, or CVT, aimed at improving fuel efficiency.

Honda announced $120 million in investments last year for the production of the CVT at the plant in nearby Russells Point.

Honda said the two combined investments for building next-generation powertrain technologies will create 150 new jobs.

The Russells Point plant is expected to start making the CVT this summer, with pulley components from Japanese operations. The Anna plant will begin manufacturing those parts next year.

The CVT technology is part of Honda’s “Earth Dreams” powertrain technology, which will launch in the U.S. in 2013 Accord models coming out this year.

The announcement came a day after the Japanese vehicle maker reported a 41 percent drop in its net earnings for October through December, ending a year that included supply disruptions from Thailand’s floods and the earthquake in Japan.