Honda to Invest $3 Billion in New Ohio Assembly Plant
Honda Motor plans to invest $3 billion to build a new vehicle assembly plant near its existing facilities in Marysville, Ohio, the automaker announced Monday.
The plant is expected to begin production in 2029, have a capacity for 240,000 vehicles annually, and create more than 2,000 jobs. The facility will be capable of producing traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines, all-electric vehicles, and hybrid models.
The investment is expected to increase Honda’s light-duty vehicle capacity to 1.3 million units annually in the U.S. Honda currently has 12 manufacturing plants in the United States, eight of which produce engines or light-duty vehicles.
It is the company’s first new mass production U.S. vehicle assembly plant since it opened a facility in Indiana in 2008. Honda also opened a $70 million performance vehicle facility in 2016 and a multibillion-dollar joint venture battery plant earlier this year, both in Ohio.
“This is not simply an investment in another plant. It is an investment in the future of Honda manufacturing in America,” Bob Nelson, executive vice president of American Honda Motor, said during the announcement at the company’s U.S. heritage center in Ohio.
The auto industry has been trying to localize more production amid President Donald Trump’s tariffs and inflated logistics costs that have cut into profits.
Honda’s announcement comes roughly two weeks after Volkswagen-owned luxury brand Audi announced it would invest more than $4 billion in its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Georgia. General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota Motor, and Hyundai Motor have also recently said they will spend billions of dollars on new or updated U.S. facilities.
Honda’s plans follow the automaker’s May decision to indefinitely suspend an $11 billion investment plan to produce all-electric vehicles and batteries in Canada, and its cancellation of three planned EVs for the U.S. market.
Honda said nearly all of its vehicles sold in the U.S., including its Acura luxury brand, were produced in North America, including more than 60% in the U.S. The Japanese automaker has built more than 33 million vehicles and more than 39 million engines in the U.S. since it started auto production in the U.S. in 1982, and currently has more than 30,000 employees in the U.S.
