Honda May Move More Production To U.S. In Tariff Response
Honda already builds several models in the U.S., including the Accord and Passport, but it’s considering localizing even more of its production efforts as tariffs start to take hold. The automaker reportedly wants to make 90 percent of the vehicles sold in the U.S. domestically, which would represent a double-digit increase in American production output.
Honda wants to boost output by as much as 30 percent over the next few years as part of its response to President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles. That would include moving Civic production from Mexico to Indiana, CR-V production from Canada, and HR-V production from Mexico.
The move would allow Honda to hire more workers and extend its factory operation into the weekend with a three-shift cadence instead of two. The United States is Honda’s most important market, making up almost 40 percent of the automaker’s global sales. Including Acura, Honda sold around 1.4 million vehicles in the States last year, with 40 percent of them imported. Even those made here contain imported components, but Trump has teased exemptions for some related imports that could ease the early impacts.
Honda isn’t the only automaker considering or working toward moving production to the United States. Though it had been planned for a while, Hyundai recently announced new factories in the U.S. where it will build batteries and completed vehicles.
[Images: Honda]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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“Honda has not made any production decisions that affect operations in Mexico, nor are any currently being considered," Honda Mexico said in an emailed statement.
Ditto.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/honda-plant-alliston-canada-1.7510455