Honda Moves V6 Accords to Alabama, Increases Production of 4-Cylinder Versions

As North American consumers rapidly change their tastes moving towards passenger cars with smaller displacement and more fuel efficient engines, automakers are forced to alter their plans shifting production to help keep factories busy. Honda on its behalf announced that it will move the majority of V6 Accord production to Lincoln, Alabama from Marysville, Ohio by mid-2009 and trim scheduled output of Odyssey minivans and Pilot sport-utility vehicles in Lincoln by an additional 22,000 units. -Continued

Simultaneously, Honda's Marysville plant will boost output of four-cylinder Accords in mid-2009 thus decreasing imports of Accord to the U.S. In an earlier announcement, the Japanese automaker had revealed that production of the Honda Ridgeline pickup will be moved from Canada to Alabama in early 2009.

"We are leveraging our flexible manufacturing network to meet the needs of our customers for more fuel-efficient products," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co.. "We will continue to guide our business based on strategic and careful management tied to our core values," he added.