Honda is to invest $3 billion in a new vehicle assembly plant in Ohio, with production due to start in 2029 and more than 2,000 jobs expected to be created.
The facility, planned near the Japanese carmaker’s existing operations in Marysville, will have the capacity to build 240,000 vehicles a year. It will be designed to produce petrol-powered cars, electric vehicles and hybrids.
The investment is expected to increase Honda’s US light-duty vehicle production capacity to 1.3 million vehicles annually. The company currently operates 12 manufacturing plants in the country, including eight producing engines or light-duty vehicles.
Bob Nelson, executive vice-president of American Honda Motor, said: “This is not simply an investment in another plant. It is an investment in the future of Honda manufacturing in America.”
The project is Honda’s first new mass-production vehicle assembly plant in the US since it opened a facility in Indiana in 2008. The company also opened a $70 million performance vehicle facility in Ohio in 2016 and a multibillion-dollar battery joint venture plant there earlier this year.
Automakers have been seeking to expand local production as tariffs and higher logistics costs put pressure on profits. Honda’s announcement follows Audi’s plans, announced roughly two weeks ago, to invest more than $4 billion in its first US manufacturing facility, in Georgia.
General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai have also recently announced billions of dollars in spending on new or upgraded facilities in the US.
Honda’s decision comes after it indefinitely suspended an $11 billion plan in May to produce electric vehicles and batteries in Canada. It also cancelled three electric vehicles planned for the US market.
The new Ohio plant is expected to increase Honda’s US production and the proportion of vehicles it sells domestically that are made in America. Honda said nearly all vehicles sold in the US, including those from its Acura luxury brand, were produced in North America, with more than 60% made in the US.
Jennifer Thomas, American Honda Motor’s senior vice-president of corporate affairs, said last month that the company needed additional capacity. “In order to be competitive in this market, you’re going to need to build products here,” she said. “We are focused on trying to maximize the existing capacity that we have, but we are at capacity, and so we’re exploring all options.”
Thomas also warned that the automotive industry could face a “catastrophic” situation if the US and Canada failed to reach a new trade agreement by the end of the year. President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian vehicles and parts from 25% to 50% on 1 January if no deal is reached.
Honda said it had built more than 33 million vehicles and over 39 million engines in the US since beginning American production in 1982. The company currently employs more than 30,000 people in the country.
