After Stellar Year, Honda Hits a Monumental Production Milestone
Honda nailed a signifiant milestone on Thursday: It produced its 20 millionth U.S.-built vehicle since it opened its first American plant in Ohio more than three decades ago. The Marysville plant produced its 10 millionth Honda Accord sedan, which also happened to be the 20 millionth vehicle to roll off Honda’s four stateside production lines.
The Marysville plant was Honda’s first facility in the country, and since then, it has built plants in East Liberty, Ohio; Lincoln, Alabama; and Greensburg, Indiana.
“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,” Hidenobu Iwata, CEO of Honda America Manufacturing, said in a statement. “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.”
Marysville has built 11.4 million Honda cars since opening in 1982, followed by East Liberty in a distant second with 4.75 million units since lines there opened in 1989. Alabama has contributed 3.1 million vehicles to the tally since the plant went online in 2001, and Indiana brought up the rear, with 750,000 units produced since 2008.
Honda also has engine manufacturing facilities in Lincoln, Alabama, and Anna, Ohio; its automatic transmissions are built in Russells Point, Ohio, and Tallapoosa, Georgia. Those facilities have produced 23.77 million automobile engines and 18.64 million transmissions in the United States, Honda said. Last year, almost 95 percent of the Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America.
Cumulatively, Honda’s plants produced 1,309,917 vehicles last year alone thanks to America’s voracious appetite for new cars in 2013. Over the past three years, Honda has sunk some $1.6 billion into its U.S. plants to expand production and put in place new technologies in products and manufacturing systems, according to the company’s statement.
