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Honda of Canada Manufacturing

Honda of Canada Manufacturing (French: Honda Canada Inc.) is located in Alliston, Ontario and is the automobile manufacturing division of Honda Canada Inc.[1]

Manufacturing

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The Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM) plants in Alliston have a land area of 450 acres (1.8 km2) and have their own recreation centre with a full NHL-sized hockey arena, physical fitness areas, a baseball diamond, and volleyball and tennis courts. The large cavernous plants require radios between members for communication and cold water chillers for HVAC systems.

As of 2022, the three plants have more than 4,200 employees and have an annual capacity of 390,000 vehicles.[2] Plant 1 was built in 1986. It is the first Canadian manufacturing facility by a Japanese automaker.[3] A stamping and bumper painting line was added in 1989. Production of the Civic coupe commenced in 1993.[4] Honda's second plant in Alliston began production in 1998, originally building Honda Odyssey vans for the 1999 model year. Production of the Odyssey in Canada stopped in 2004 to make room for the Ridgeline.[5] Production of the Honda Pilot in Canada stopped in 2007 to allow Civic sedans to be built in Plant 2.

In May 2006, Honda announced it would build a CA$154 million engine plant in Alliston to supply about 200,000 engines a year for the Civic model.[6][7][8] The plant opened in 2008.[9] The plant has capacity of 190,000 four-cylinder engines.[2]

Early 2009 saw the end of Ridgeline production at the Alliston Assembly facility.[10] Ridgeline production has been moved to Honda's Alabama assembly line.[5] The discontinuance of Ridgeline production would make room for more Civic production at Plant 2.

January 29, 2009 Honda announced further reductions in production at the Alliston plant. "One assembly line at the facility will go from two daily work shifts to one. Output of Civic and Acura MDX models made on the line will be halved from 800 units a day to 400 units." [11]

In early 2012, Honda of Canada Manufacturing became Honda's first plant in North America to produce four distinct models: Civic, CR-V, MDX and ZDX from the same production line, demonstrating its flexibility and capability.[12]

On March 28, 2013, the last Acura MDX was assembled in Alliston. Production was moved to Honda's Alabama plant. Since 2000 (2001 model year), a total of 713,158 MDXs were manufactured at HCM. Honda of Canada Manufacturing now builds Civics and CR-Vs only. In February 2020, Honda built its nine-millionth vehicle in Ontario.[13]

In March, 2022, Honda announced it would invest CA$1.38 billion over six years in part to upgrade and retool Alliston plant to become the global lead plant for the 2023 CR-V. The federal and provincial governments agreed to each provide conditional contribution of CA$131.6 million.[2][14][15][16] The investment will also cover the engine plant and Plant 1.[17]

Production of the 2023 CR-V started in September 2022, followed by hybrid model.[18] Honda plans to increase the hybrid model to 50 percent of CR-V sales in North America.[18]

Current products

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Plant Location Year opened Year closed Notes
Alliston Plant 1 Alliston, Ontario 1986 Models:
Alliston Plant 2 Alliston, Ontario 1998 Models:

Former products

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References

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  1. ^ "HONDA OF CANADA MFG. EXPANDS EXPORT DESTINATIONS WITH EUROPEAN SPEC CR-V (Mar 31, 2015)". world.honda.com. Honda. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Honda of Canada Mfg. to Invest more than $1.38 billion in Ontario Manufacturing Plants in Preparation for Electrified Future". Honda Canada Corporate Newsroom (Press release). 16 March 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Touring Ontario's Honda Canada Manufacturing plant". openroadautogroup.com. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Our Company – Honda Canada Manufacturing". Honda of Canada Mfg. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b Honda to build Ridgeline in Alabama, Automotive News, dated 11 March 2008, last accessed 20 October 2016
  6. ^ "Honda to open new Alliston plant". CBC. May 17, 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Honda to build new engine plant in Alliston, Ontario". autos.ca. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  8. ^ "McGuinty Government Partners With Honda Canada To Bring Innovative Engine Facility To Ontario". Gov't of Ontario. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Honda Opens New Engine Plant In Ontario (Sep 25, 2008)". world.honda.com. Honda. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  10. ^ Honda 2017 Digital FactBook, Honda News & Views, dated 22 May 2017, last accessed 17 January 2018
  11. ^ National Post Honda to cut global production further; To lower output at Alliston, Ont. by 9,000 vehicles. Van Praet, Nicolas. Jan 28, 2009. pg. FP.4
  12. ^ "CANADIAN PRODUCTION OF THE ALL-NEW 2012 HONDA CR-V BEGINS AT HONDA OF CANADA MFG. IN ALLISTON, ON (Jan 23, 2012)". hondanews.ca. Honda Canada Inc. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Honda Reaches Major Sales and Manufacturing Milestones in Canada". www.newswire.ca (Press release). Honda Canada Inc. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  14. ^ Guignard, Jonathan (15 March 2022). "Honda's Alliston plant to build next-generation hybrids as part of $1.38B investment for electric transition". CTV Barrie. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  15. ^ Callan, Isaac (16 March 2022). "Honda confirms plan to switch Ontario plant to hybrid vehicles | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  16. ^ Herald, Brad Pritchard Alliston. "'Big challenge': Honda plant in Alliston begins mass production of 2023 CR-V". Simcoe. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Honda's $1.4B investment in Ontario plants will lead to 2023 CR-V Hybrid assembly". Automotive News Canada. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Production of All-New 2023 Honda CR-V Begins in North America". Honda Canada Automobiles Newsroom (Press release). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
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44°08′53″N 79°50′42″W / 44.14805°N 79.84509°W / 44.14805; -79.84509