Honda's U.S. Plants Build 20 Millionth Automobile

Noria news wires
Tags: manufacturing

Honda's four American auto plants recently celebrated the cumulative production of 20 million automobiles in the United States. The company also marked the achievement of the 10 millionth U.S.-built Honda Accord rolling off the assembly line at Honda's first U.S. auto plant in Marysville, Ohio.

The Marysville Auto Plant is the historic site of the first Honda Accord produced in America on Nov. 1, 1982, and the first Japanese auto plant to begin production of automobiles in the United States. Since then, Honda has established automobile manufacturing operations in East Liberty, Ohio; Lincoln, Ala.; and Greensburg, Ind.

Those plants today manufacture 11 different models, including four passenger cars and seven light trucks. A fifth U.S. plant, the Performance Manufacturing Center, is under construction in Marysville, Ohio, and next year will become the exclusive global production location for the next-generation Acura NSX.

"We are deeply aware that our ability to reach this milestone results from the trust that 20 million customers have placed in our products, and we appreciate their support over the past three decades," said Hidenobu Iwata, president and CEO of Honda of America Manufacturing and head of Honda's North American manufacturing. "We also value the commitment made by tens of thousands of associates at Honda and our hundreds of suppliers in the U.S. who build products of the highest quality for our customers."

Honda's U.S. plants produced a record 1.3 million automobiles in 2013, an increase of 7.4 percent from the previous annual mark set in 2012. Honda is supported by a network of 533 suppliers in the U.S., with purchasing of parts and components last year exceeding $23 billion.

Associates at the Marysville Auto Plant have been building the Accord since production began nearly 32 years ago, and over that time have produced the vast majority of Accords for the U.S. and other markets. Today, the plant produces the Accord Sedan, Coupe and the Accord Hybrid. Accord models also were produced for four years at the East Liberty Auto Plant and two years at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama.

Honda's four U.S. auto plants are supported by engine manufacturing in Lincoln, Ala., and Anna, Ohio, and the production of automatic transmissions in Russells Point, Ohio, and Tallapoosa, Ga. These plants have produced 23.77 million automobile engines and 18.64 million transmissions in the United States. In 2013, nearly 95 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America.

Over the past three years, Honda has invested approximately $1.6 billion in its U.S. auto plants to expand production and implement new technologies in products and manufacturing systems.

For more information, visit www.honda.com.