Article for Accord Plug in forum.
Honda says it will begin assembling a new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid at a plant in Marysville, Ohio, later this year.
Honda redesigned the 2013 Accord, and a more complex plug-in hybrid will go on sale this year. It is assembled in Japan.
The 2014 hybrid to be built in Marysville – and which goes on sale in the fall – will be a conventional hybrid, Ron Lietzke, a Honda spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
The plant, which currently builds the Accord coupe and sedan as well as the Acura TL, has about 4,400 employees. Adding the hybrid will require hiring an additional 50 workers and a $23 million investment, Mr. Lietzke said.
Honda builds two other hybrid models in the United States. The Civic Hybrid and the Acura ILX Hybrid are assembled in Greensburg, Ind.
Honda began making Accords at the Marysville plant in 1982. At the time, there was some skepticism from consumers about whether American workers could produce the same quality vehicles as workers in Japan.
After several years, various reliability studies indicated the quality from Ohio was good, backing up what Honda officials had said: The issue wasn’t the nationality of workers but the thoughtfulness of the assembly methods.
Honda now has about 13,500 workers at four plants in Ohio that assemble vehicles and make engines and transmissions. It also has a research-and-design operation that engineers some new models.
The automaker says it has invested about $800 million in the state in the last three years.
Honda says it will begin assembling a new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid at a plant in Marysville, Ohio, later this year.
Honda redesigned the 2013 Accord, and a more complex plug-in hybrid will go on sale this year. It is assembled in Japan.
The 2014 hybrid to be built in Marysville – and which goes on sale in the fall – will be a conventional hybrid, Ron Lietzke, a Honda spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
The plant, which currently builds the Accord coupe and sedan as well as the Acura TL, has about 4,400 employees. Adding the hybrid will require hiring an additional 50 workers and a $23 million investment, Mr. Lietzke said.
Honda builds two other hybrid models in the United States. The Civic Hybrid and the Acura ILX Hybrid are assembled in Greensburg, Ind.
Honda began making Accords at the Marysville plant in 1982. At the time, there was some skepticism from consumers about whether American workers could produce the same quality vehicles as workers in Japan.
After several years, various reliability studies indicated the quality from Ohio was good, backing up what Honda officials had said: The issue wasn’t the nationality of workers but the thoughtfulness of the assembly methods.
Honda now has about 13,500 workers at four plants in Ohio that assemble vehicles and make engines and transmissions. It also has a research-and-design operation that engineers some new models.
The automaker says it has invested about $800 million in the state in the last three years.