Honda plans to become 'net exporter' of autos from North America
BY ALAN OHNSMAN Bloomberg News
Thursday, December 06, 2012
12/06/12 at 6:22 AM
Honda Motor Co., Japan's first automaker to build cars in the U.S., said Wednesday it expects to export more cars and light trucks from North America than it imports to the region within two years.
Honda will be a "net exporter" as its plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico take more responsibility for developing global models for sale in multiple countries, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement.
The carmaker marked the production of its 1 millionth export vehicle Wednesday, a 2013 Accord sedan heading for South Korea, at its plant in Marysville, Ohio.
The first Honda auto exports from the U.S. began in 1987, and "quality for the world, made in America, has been an important Honda commitment for the past 25 years," President Takanobu Ito said in the statement.
Three decades after the company began building vehicles in Marysville, the company is adding a factory in Mexico that will produce Fit hatchbacks starting in 2014.
Sales of Honda and Acura brand autos are rebounding this year, up 24 percent through November, aided by a 57 percent surge in vehicle production at its North American plants.
Honda's U.S. sales dipped 6.8 percent last year, the result of production disruptions caused by natural disasters in Asia that slowed North American plants for months due to parts shortages.
The company expects to deliver almost 1.46 million Honda and Acura brand vehicles this year in the U.S., up from 1.15 million a year ago, John Mendel, Honda's U.S. executive vice president, said in an interview last month.
Original Print Headline: Honda to be a North American net exporter
Associated Images:
A 2012 Honda Civic manufactured to be powered by compressed natural gas rolls off the production line at a Honda plant in Greensburg, Ind. Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it expects to become a net exporter of vehicles from North America within two years. Bloomberg file
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