Media

Acura NSX Production Site Selected in Ohio

Located Near Honda’s R&D Center, Facility to Employ 100 Highly Skilled Associates

MARYSVILLE, Ohio, May 14, 2013 – Acura today announced that the all-new NSX supercar will be produced at a new Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, a $70 million advanced production facility encompassing 184,000 square feet to be housed inside Honda’s former North American Logistics facility and located in the midst of Honda’s existing R&D and production engineering operations.

The site for the new production facility, which will be Honda’s third auto plant in Ohio, is only a few miles from the Honda R&D Americas, Inc. Ohio Center that is engineering the supercar for production and adjacent to Honda of America Mfg.’s Marysville Auto Plant. The Performance Manufacturing Center also is close to Honda Engineering North America, Inc., center for the development of new production technologies.

A part of Honda of America, the Performance Manufacturing Center will be a unique manufacturing operation that will employ approximately 100 highly skilled manufacturing associates drawn from within Honda’s existing operations in Ohio. In addition, associates at Honda’s engine plant in Anna, Ohio, will assemble the NSX powertrain.

“Thirty years ago, building cars in America was a big dream.  Working together, here in Ohio and across North America we turned this dream into reality,” said Hidenobu Iwata, president & CEO of Honda of America and the head of Honda’s manufacturing operations in North America. “The location of this facility is in the midst of one of the greatest collections of engineering and production talent in the world.  So it makes sense that we will renew the dream and build this high-tech, supercar in Marysville, Ohio.”

In addition to the plant location, Honda announced that Honda R&D Americas chief engineer Ted Klaus is leading the global team developing the new NSX, and Clement D’ Souza, associate chief engineer at Honda of America, is leading the team that will bring NSX to mass production in 2015.

“This new plant will be as unique as the vehicle we will build here,” said D’Souza. “In creating the plan for this plant, we looked closely at each process and determined the perfect blend of associate craftsmanship and technology to adopt a new approach to manufacturing.”

The Acura NSX Concept was on display at the event, attended by local community and government leaders, including Ohio Governor John Kasich, showcasing the NSX’s low and wide stance that will help fulfill the Acura brand product direction centered on the synergy between man and machine.

The new NSX is being developed by a global R&D team led by designers and engineers at Honda R&D Americas, Inc. located in Los Angeles, Calif., and Raymond, Ohio.  The NSX will feature a unique powertrain and body structure to provide an incredible driving experience. It will be powered by a mid-mounted V-6 engine mated to Acura’s innovative new Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system.

“We have a very clear understanding of the high customer expectations luxury buyers around the world have for a supercar, and our challenge is to exceed them and create new value for the customer,” said Klaus.  “This new Performance Manufacturing Center will be key to this challenge.”

Once selected, the team of production associates at the Performance Manufacturing Center will begin training and establishing manufacturing processes that will be used to build the all-new NSX.  The next generation NSX will be built exclusively at the all-new Performance Manufacturing Center. In addition to being sold in North America, the NSX will be exported to customers throughout the world.

The original Acura NSX was built at the Takanezawa Plant in Japan from 1990 until production moved to the Suzuka Plant in early 2004, where it was produced until 2005.  Part of the Tochigi Factory, the Takanezawa Plant was the first manufacturing facility in the world to mass-produce an all-aluminum body and balance advanced production equipment with hands-on “craftsman” processes.

About Honda

Honda established its first operations in America in 1959, and now employs more than 33,000 associates in its North American sales, R&D and manufacturing operations with a capital investment of more than $22 billion.

Based on Honda’s approach of “building products close to the customer” Honda started local production of motorcycles in the U.S. in September 1979. In November 1982, Honda became the first Japanese automaker to begin automobile production in the U.S. Since then, Honda has continued to expand local production, and cumulative production volume of automobiles in North America through March 2013 was more than 25 million units.

Honda now operates 14 major manufacturing facilities in North America, producing a wide range of Honda and Acura automobiles, automobile engines and transmissions, Honda all-terrain vehicles, and power equipment products such as lawn mowers, mini-tillers and general purpose engines, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

Seven Honda auto plants in the North American region, including four in the U.S., have the capacity to produce 1.63 million automobiles each year. In 2012, 90 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America. This will increase to 1.92 million vehicles per year in 2014, when the sales percentage of locally produced automobiles is expected to rise to more than 95 percent.

About Acura

Acura offers a full line of technologically advanced performance luxury vehicles through a network of 272 dealers within the United States. The Acura lineup features seven distinctive models, including the all- RLX luxury flagship sedan, the TL performance luxury sedan, the TSX Sport Wagon and sedan, the ILX compact luxury sedan, the RDX luxury crossover SUV, and the ZDX four-door sports coupe. The all-new MDX luxury sport utility vehicle will debut this summer.

Contacts:

Ron Lietzke, Honda North America, Ohio

(937) 644-6627 office; (937) 441-0968 cell; ron_lietzke@hna.honda.com

Chuck Schifsky, Honda North America, Torrance, Acura Product PR

(310) 783-3165 office; chuck_schifsky@hna.honda.com

Ed Miller, Honda North America, Detroit

(313) 202-3150 office; (937) 537-1087 cell; ed_miller@hna.honda.com

Stacey Pond, Honda of America Mfg., Inc.

(937) 644-6463 office; (937) 508-1382 cell; stacey_pond@ham.honda.com

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